IMAX Panel Discussion with Canadian Astronaut Roberta Bondar

Join us for a virtual panel discussion on the history and future of IMAX cinema with special guest, astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar. Dr Bondar will share her experiences with IMAX filmmaking in space, and how it continues to influence her work as a photographer and environmental advocate. Our panel will consist of scholars Janine Marchessault, Jessica Mulvogue, Allison Whitney, and artist Oliver Husain, whose exhibition I <3 Snail, on display at the gallery, draws on similar themes to the panel.

This event will also mark the publication of a special issue of the journal Feminist Media Histories on “Women of IMAX,” which investigates the transformative work of women as film directors, producers, museum managers, technical writers, and computing experts in the medium’s nearly fifty-year history.

This event is free and open to everyone. If there are ways we can support your participation, please contact Hannah at [email protected].

Registration is required.

Panelist Bios:

Dr. Roberta Bondar is a neurologist, physician, photographer, and Canada’s first femaleastronaut. She participated in the production of the IMAX film Destiny in Space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, Mission STS-42. She is a leader in space medicine research, and through the Roberta Bondar Foundation she fosters initiatives that merge scientific and artistic practice to support environmental education and protection.

Artist and filmmaker Oliver Husain is based in Toronto. His projects are often collaborations with other artists and friends; and often begin with a fragment of history, a rumour, a personal encounter or a distant memory. He uses a wide range of cinematic languages, technical experiments and visual pleasures — such as dance, puppetry, costume, special effects — to animate his research and fold the viewers into complex narrative set-ups.

Janine Marchessault is Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts at York University in Toronto, Canada. She is the Principal Investigator for[DH1] Locating Transnational Collaborations in the Early History of Imax Films and Architectures (1970–1990), imax-history.ca/. She is also the commissioner for XL Outer Worlds, culminating in the production of five experimental IMAX films by Canadian artists to celebrate the invention of IMAX, www.xlouterworlds.ca/.

Jessica Mulvogue is a Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews (Scotland) and a member of the research team Locating Transnational Collaborations in the Early History of Imax Films and Architectures (1970-1990), imax-history.ca/. She is the coeditor of The Interactive Documentary in Canada (McGill-Queens University Press, 2024) and Cinematic Ecosystems: Screen Encounters with More Than Humans in the Era of Environmental Crisis (Vernon Press, 2025). She has published work on eco-cinema, artists’ moving image, and documentary film in Studies in World Cinema, Transformations Journal, and various edited collections.

Allison Whitney is the 2026-27...