Imagine being able to understand a language that not only describes reality but also shapes it. It is precisely this frontier between language, perception, and science that science fiction writer Ted Chiang explored in his novel Story of Your Life, which later inspired the hit film Arrival. During the 25th edition of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, INAF decided to honor Chiang with the 2025 Event Horizon Award, recognizing his extraordinary ability to transform complex scientific concepts into narratives that move and inspire reflection.
The 2025 edition of the festival, currently taking place in Trieste from October 28 to November 2 and focused on the themes of artificial intelligence, communication, and the frontiers of knowledge, has reaffirmed its role as a platform for dialogue between science, technology, and culture. With the presentation of theINAF-Event Horizon Award, INAF has reaffirmed the importance of honoring those who can convey science through stories capable of moving audiences, sparking curiosity, and stimulating critical reflection. The award, established in 2023 to mark the 60th anniversary of the first Trieste International Science Fiction Film Festival, is awarded by an INAF jury—composed of a group of distinguished researchers, journalists, and film enthusiasts—to the feature film that best explores innovative and profound themes related to science and the human condition.
This time, it was awarded to the American writer for his extraordinary contribution to the dialogue between science and literature, and for his ability to inspire curiosity, empathy, and wonder. The jury—comprising Chiara Badia, Stefano Cristiani, Vincenzo Fabrizio Cardone, Fabrizio Fiore, and Laura Leonardi—noted how, in Arrival, for example, the idea that language shapes perception resonates deeply in our present, where the way we communicate increasingly defines our view of the world. Ted Chiang is a perfect example of the dialogue between cinema and science, capable of transforming complex concepts into accessible and powerful storytelling, while continuing to inspire generations of readers, viewers, and researchers.
“It is a great honor to personally present the INAF Event Horizon Award to Ted Chiang, a writer who has managed to portray with extraordinary effectiveness the way scientists conceive of the universe and seek to understand how it works,” explains Cristiani, chair of the jury and researcher at the Trieste Astronomical Observatory. “Works such as Exhalation, The Lifecycle of Software Objects and Story of Your Life —which inspired the film Arrival—offer a rare synthesis of philosophical depth, scientific rigor, and literary elegance. Through themes such as the perception of time and memory, consciousness, artificial intelligence, entropy, and determinism, Chiang invites us to explore the boundaries of human understanding. What sets her writing apart is not only its intellectual clarity but also its emotional resonance.”
Among the films in competition at the 2025 edition of the festival, other works that approach science fiction in a conceptual and reflective way also stood out: CognAItive, by Tommy Savas, explores the complexities of communication and artificial intelligence; Orion weaves together linguistics, ethics, and memory in a psychological thriller that reflects on the power of language; Bulk, directed by Ben Wheatley, plays with black-and-white imagery and a surreal aesthetic to create a world suspended between comics and reality; finally, the documentary John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office, directed by Michael Almereyda and Courtney Stephens, traces the research of neuroscientist John C. Lilly, a pioneer in the study of interspecies communication, combining neuroscience, ethology, and extreme experiments.
Ted Chiang Wins Inaf's Event Horizon Award
