By Jasmin Twiggs, Keystone Symposia — with Dr. Shruti Naik, Ph.D., Executive Producer
“What if the next breakthrough never comes?” It’s the question The Endless Frontier opens on, and it hangs over everything that follows. Rather than the familiar story of brilliant individuals and neat moments of discovery, the documentary stays close to the unshowy reality of a research life: the long wait on funding decisions, the experiments that lead nowhere, the grind of getting into the field, and the daily work of training whoever comes next.
The film follows three researchers in very different corners of science — Princeton disease ecologist Andrea Graham, UCLA marine biologist Paul Barber, and University of Utah neuroroboticist Jacob George — as mounting institutional and financial pressure runs up against the curiosity that pulled each of them toward research in the first place. Directed by two-time Emmy winner Marilyn Ness, it was reviewed in Nature as “a timely reminder that science isn’t an invincible machine” and featured in Science. Its title is an ode to Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report to President Truman — the document that helped create the National Science Foundation — and to the idea that science is never truly finished, but always a work in progress.
As a member of Keystone Symposia’s Scientific Advisory Board, immunologist Dr. Shruti Naik is part of our own community as well as an executive producer on the film. We spoke with her about why she helped bring these stories to the screen.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, I witnessed how rapidly public trust in science could erode. People questioned the safety of vaccines, the reality of the pandemic itself, and the credibility of scientific institutions. That experience made clear to me that many people have little understanding of how science actually works. Their last encounter with it may have been a classroom in which every question had a predetermined answer in the back of a textbook. Research is fundamentally different. We venture into the unknown, ask questions for which no answer yet exists, and proceed through uncertainty, failure, revision, and discovery.
There is also a profound disconnect between the scientific enterprise and the society it serves. Publicly funded research has underpinned nearly every major advance in modern medicine and technology, yet most people cannot name a living scientist or trace the origins of the medicines they take beyond a pharmaceutical company or pharmacy. Scientists remain largely invisible, often perceived as distant experts rather than people driven by curiosity, perseverance, doubt, and a desire to improve human life.
A paper can communicate evidence, and a lecture can explain ideas, but film can reveal the human experience behind discovery. It can bring audiences into laboratories and into scientists’ lives, allowing them to witness the uncertainty, setbacks, relationships, and moments of insight that shape scientific progress. I wanted to use documentary storytelling to make science emotionally accessible without diminishing its rigor, and to help audiences see scientists not as enigmatic authorities, but as people engaged in the difficult, creative work of generating new knowledge. I believe that understanding both the process of science and the people who undertake it is essential to rebuilding trust between science and society."
"What stayed with me was less a single scene than a recurring refrain throughout the film: scientists acknowledging that they did not know what they would find and that they would need to improvise because no one had attempted the work before. Those admissions reveal something fundamental that scientists rarely say publicly. At the frontier of knowledge, uncertainty is not a failure of expertise. It is the very condition that makes discovery possible.
Science is often presented as a collection of settled facts, but research is a living, evolving process. Every meaningful advance requires creativity, adaptation, persistence, and the courage to proceed without knowing where the path will lead. The film captures not only the exhilaration of discovery, but also the vulnerability of devoting years to an idea that may fail, depending on uncertain funding, and continuing despite experiments that refuse to cooperate.
I hope early-career researchers recognize themselves in those moments and understand that uncertainty does not mean they are unprepared or do not belong. It means they are working at the edge of what is known. The task of a scientist is not to possess every answer, but to ask consequential questions, remain open to what nature reveals, and have the courage to continue venturing into the unknown."
"It was important to show science unfolding across radically different disciplines and landscapes, from the oceans of French Polynesia to a farm in Princeton and an engineering laboratory in Utah. Yet beneath those visible differences, we encountered the same essential qualities: curiosity, creativity, perseverance, a desire to solve consequential problems, and a commitment to training the next generation.
Following these three researchers revealed that the deepest connections in science do not always arise from a shared subject matter. They emerge from a shared way of engaging with the unknown. Whether studying the immune system, marine ecosystems, or neurorobotics, each scientist was learning to observe carefully, ask better questions, adapt when evidence challenged expectations, and draw upon ideas and tools developed beyond the boundaries of their own field.
That same spirit animates Keystone Symposia. When scientists from different disciplines gather in the same room, they begin to recognize that a method developed in one field may unlock a problem in another, or that seemingly unrelated biological systems may be governed by common principles. The film reminded me that science is not a collection of isolated fields. It is a deeply interconnected enterprise, sustained by a common culture of curiosity, discovery, mentorship, and the conviction that knowledge can be used to improve the world."
"I would love for scientists to use the film not simply as something to watch, but as a catalyst for conversation. Universities and research institutions could host screenings for students and colleagues while also inviting neighboring communities to meet local scientists and learn about the research taking place in their own backyard. Trust is rarely built through facts alone. It is built through sustained, human connection, one conversation at a time.
But universities are only one possible setting. The film could be screened by schools, parent associations, libraries, faith communities, civic organizations, and even local sports groups. It could also help scientists engage elected officials and public leaders in more informed discussions about how research works, why public investment matters, and how scientific discovery benefits their communities.
Our ambition is to support screenings across America and beyond, using the film as a bridge between scientists and the people their work ultimately serves. We want scientists, educators, advocates, and community members to make the film their own: to use it to explain the value of science, advocate for its future, and create spaces where curiosity can replace distance and dialogue can begin to rebuild trust."
View the film’s upcoming screenings: https://www.endlessfrontierfilm.com/screenings
Interested in hosting a screening at your university or organization? The team is actively looking for academic partners — get in touch through the film’s contact page.