Academy Award®-nominated director Robert Stone is coming to RPI’s campus for a special screening of his film Starman, followed by a live Q&A. The event is free and open to the public and will take place in the EMPAC Theater on April 29 at 4:30 p.m.

A New York Times Critics Pick documentary, Starman follows the journey through time and space experienced by Gentry Lee, a science-fiction writer and Chief Engineer for Planetary Exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The documentary uses stunning visuals and personal storytelling to reflect decades of space exploration, from the Viking and Voyager missions to Lee’s collaborations with Arthur C. Clarke.

“With Gentry as our guide, we were able to weave a tale that combines our collective fascination with space with a moving first-person narrative about the scientific quest for knowledge,” said Stone.

The event is set against a backdrop of a new era in space exploration and a deep RPI legacy in the field, reflected most recently in NASA’s Artemis II mission around the moon -- commanded by RPI alumnus Reid Wiseman ’97.

Following the screening, Stone will participate in a live Q&A moderated by Dean of RPI’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, William Gibbons, Ph.D. The discussion will offer students and members of the public a rare chance to engage directly with the filmmaker in conversation about documentary storytelling and its connection to science and discovery.

Stone is an Oscar nominee for Best Feature Documentary and a three-time Emmy nominee for Exceptional Merit in Documentary filmmaking, and has won dozens of awards for his work over the past 35 years. His interest in film and space was sparked by 2001: A Space Odyssey and the first human steps on the moon, leading to work that often explores the intersection of science, technology, and history.

“To me, space inhabits our imagination on a spectrum that runs from the awe-inspiring realities of human and robotic exploration over the last half century, to science fiction projections of interplanetary travel and contact with alien civilizations, and even to the widespread belief that intelligent aliens are already visiting the Earth,” said Stone. “It is all part of a story we tell ourselves about our place in the cosmos and the profound questions we have about whether or not we are alone.”

Seats are limited to RSVP now: https://empac.rpi.edu/events/2026/starman