Brian Cox Pic: Bob Lee

Physicist Brian Cox, Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker, and Don’t Look Now director Nicholas Roeg are among the celebrity names speaking at the Winter Shuffle film festival, which kicked off yesterday in Mile End.

Curated by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle, the 10-day-long event follows the success of his sold-out summer festival and will again take place at the St Clement’s Hospital, a disused psychiatric unit in Bow.

Cox, who advised Boyle on how to shoot his 2007 science-fiction thriller Sunshine, will be discussing the film after it is screened next Sunday.

Jarvis Cocker and Nicholas Roeg will also take to the stage to discuss 1976 Sci-Fi flick, The Man Who Fell to Earth.

“The premise of Sunshine is that the best of the best scientists in the world are on a mission to the Sun to save humanity,” Cox told the Evening Standard.

He added: “[Boyle] wanted to find a way of connecting his young actors to young scientists and astronauts. He saw me on Horizon, being interviewed about the Large Hadron Collider – I guess he thought I was young, approachable; seemed to know my stuff.”

This year, the festival features a range of science-themed entertainment, with geneticist Aarathi Prasad discussing ‘virgin births’, Professor Simon Dein explaining ‘The Neuroscience of Religious Experience’, and a discussion on Living In Antarctica.

The full programme Winter Shuffle includes film screenings, live music, comedy, art, theatre and discussion groups.

Festive films will also be screened including It’s a Wonderful Life, A Muppets Christmas Carol, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Home Alone.

The Winter Shuffle runs until Sunday December 15 at St.Clements Hospital, Mile End Road, Bow.