Spacetime wins at Cannes World Film Festival
The film “Spacetime, the era of gravitational waves” has been crowned best “scientific film” at the Cannes World Film Festival. The short documentary has also been honoured or nominated for awards at other festivals. The film is part of the school programme at the Einstein Telescope Education Centre (ETEC) in Kerkrade. Spacetime was commissioned by the Dutch Black Hole Consortium (DBHC) and made by Jeroen Hoekstra of Big Pixel.
More awards and nominations
Spacetime has not only won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. At the CineTech Future Fest in Opole, Poland, the jury judged the film to be the best short documentary. This was also the case at the LuminaFlicks International Short Film Fest in Albania. In Strasbourg, during the International Film Festival, Spacetime won the award for “film with the best sound”. There were also honourable mentions at other festivals, including in Amsterdam. The film has also been nominated for upcoming festivals abroad.
Dutch Black Hole Consortium
This 3D documentary film explains what gravitational waves are and how measuring them with the Einstein Telescope could yield groundbreaking insights into the universe. The film was commissioned by the Dutch Black Hole Consortium (DBHC). This is a group of more than 30 scientists who are conducting a research programme on black holes throughout the Netherlands. The programme involves new telescope technologies, studying the geology of the possible location for the Einstein Telescope, and attempting to answer profound theoretical and astronomical questions about space and time. Maureen Voestermans and Gideon Koekoek (Maastricht University) wrote the script for the film on behalf of the DBHC. Alexandra Mitchell of Nikhef narrated the English version of the film. The film is available in the languages English, Dutch, German and French.
Maureen Voestermans is naturally delighted with the film’s success: “The credits go to filmmaker Jeroen Hoekstra, of course. But for us, it’s also about raising awareness and interest in the importance of gravitational wave research. That starts with science, but ultimately, society as a whole benefits from what that knowledge can deliver in our daily lives. And hopefully, the attention for the film will contribute to the popularity of the Einstein Telescope and the wonderful work of the ETEC in Kerkrade.”
ETEC
At the Einstein Telescope Education Centre in Kerkrade, part of the Discovery Museum, schoolchildren have the opportunity to learn about and get hands-on experience with the phenomenon of gravitational waves, the Einstein Telescope that will measure these waves, and the physical principles underlying them. The programme begins with a screening of the film in the Earth Theatre.
Due to the great interest from the Euregio, ETEC wants to offer the programme one day a week to Belgian and German schools in the Euregio during the coming school year. In addition, ETEC is responding to the demand to introduce the general public to the programme on gravitational waves. From June onwards, ETEC will also be open one Sunday a month to other interested parties.
