Arts and humanities

2026–2027 Theme: At the Frontiers of Humanity

What makes a person human? We must examine the concept of humanity today because it is no longer self-evident and is undergoing profound changes that challenge and upend our understanding of what it means to be human.

Humans have always proudly distinguished themselves from animals and machines through consciousness and thought. But research in ethology continually brings us back to our animal nature, while animals appear increasingly similar to humans. In this age of generative AI and algorithms with incredible computational power, human intelligence seems outdated and powerless to anticipate all the transformations to come. Scientific advances hint at possible genetic modifications and new forms of hybridization. The boundaries of what it means to be human seem to have been completely blurred.
Science fiction has long reflected the anxiety sparked by these advances in science and technology by fueling the transhumanist fantasy of an “augmented” human, enhanced by technology. Has the human being become obsolete? Will the future be posthuman? Another line of thought leads us to question how we view those who seem radically different from us—the insane, the abnormal—or even monstrous in appearance, and who are often dehumanized and cast out beyond the boundaries of humanity. How can we preserve the fragile part of humanity within us—the part that leads us to care for and recognize others while rejecting all forms of dehumanization? Remaining human remains a moral imperative and a call to fight against our own inhuman tendencies.
The films selected for this series largely reflect these fears and reflections on our own humanity and its future.

Schedule of Sessions

• Monday, November 16, 2026 - 8:00 p.m.: *The Elephant Man* (1981) by David Lynch

London, 1884. A man-elephant is on display in a carnival tent. Intrigued by his terrifying deformities, Frederick Treves, a young surgeon, manages—for a fee—to rescue him from his manager, Bytes, and takes him to the London Hospital to examine him in detail.

• Monday, December 14, 2026 - 8:00 p.m.: *Thank You for Coming* (2026) by Alain Cavalier

The final episode of Alain Cavalier's video diary.

• Monday, February 1, 2027 - 8:00 p.m.: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Stanley Kubrick

In the middle of the desert, two tribes of great apes clash over a watering hole. The appearance of a mysterious monolith fascinates one of the primates, who soon creates a tool that allows him to dominate his fellow apes.

• Monday, March 15, 2027 - 8:00 p.m.: *Under the Skin* (2012) by Jonathan Glazer

An alien arrives on Earth and takes on the appearance of a mysterious, strikingly beautiful woman. The alien then roams the roads of Scotland, approaching male passersby in order to lure them into her van and make them disappear.