The 41st Annual Insect Fear Film Festival (IFFF) will be held on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at Foellinger Auditorium, on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Hosted by the Entomology Graduate Students Association in the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, this year’s theme is Ant-Men—movies featuring people who shrink down to the size of ants and participate in ant societies. The lives of social insects have long fascinated people around the world, based on real or (more often) imagined resemblances between insect and human societies. Ants in particular are among the most accessible social insects, who typically spend much of their time out and about on the ground or underfoot, working together to transport objects, build nests, and even fight among themselves. It’s only natural that Hollywood has exploited plot lines that place humans directly into ant storylines to make an often misplaced metaphorical point. In the kid-friendly feature The Ant Bully (2006), a ten-year-old boy who has terrorized an ant colony is shrunk down to ant size by the colony residents to teach him a lesson; in Ant-Man (2015), an eccentric physicist recruits a professional burglar to use his unique size-changing technology to become an ant-sized superhero who can communicate with ants.
This event is FREE and open to the public. Activities will begin at 5:30 pm CST, and film introductions will start at 7:30 pm. A full schedule will be available on our website. This year’s festival will feature:
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A living ant display
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An insect petting zoo
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Bugscope (scanning electron microscope) to get up-close and personal with ants and other insects
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Insect arts and crafts for the whole family
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A gallery of the annual IFFF art contest featuring insect-themed artwork by local K-12 students
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...and more!!!
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, February 24th, 2024! For more information, including a link to purchase t-shirts with the logo seen above, please visit the IFFF website, our Facebook page, follow us on X(Twitter) or contact Elizabeth Bello or Annaliese Wargin.