As the world makes more advances in quantum science and technologies, it is time to think about how it will impact lives and how society should respond. This mini-documentary by the Quantum Daily is a good starting point to think about these ethical issues.
SHORTLISTED | Quantum Shorts 2022
In this quantum comedy by Paul, Felix, Alfie, Petra and Ezra Ratner, two brothers argue over broken gadgets and the many worlds interpretation of quantum physics
Another movie with parallel universes is the Oscar-nominated movie, Everything Everywhere All At Once. Quantum Shorts shortlisting judge Spiros Michalakis talks about the movie and quantum here: https://www.vox.com/culture/23024945/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-multiverse-explained-quantum-physicist
INTERVIEW
Please tell us about yourself and the team that made the film.
Our team consists of members of our family - Felix is a 7th grader, a physics fan who has directed dozens of short films, Alfie is in second grade and loves science and soccer, Paul is a writer and film director as well as a science journalist. Petra, yoga teacher and sound healer as well as a film producer, and Ezra, currently just 6 months old but full of great ideas, round out our filmmaking group.
This is your second time entering Quantum Shorts. What is different this year?
What’s different this year is that we had an even shorter time frame to make the film. Having less time probably allowed us to be even more creative in executing the filming after we came up with our idea through some fun brainstorming.
How did you come up with the idea for your film?
Our quantum inspiration was the “many-worlds interpretation”. We went over a lot of different quantum mechanics theories by reading about them, then focused on the many-worlds interpretation which seemed like a perfect excuse to explore a comic rivalry between brothers. We are interested in quantum physics because it’s a unique way to describe our world with much yet left to learn.
Please share with us an interesting detail about how you made the movie.
One interesting detail is that our film is centered around broken devices and we thankfully have many such gadgets at home! Their screens break so easily.
What reaction do you hope for from viewers?
We hope the viewers will both laugh and learn from our film. We like to take difficult concepts and try to make them understandable in simple, memorable ways.
What is your favourite science-inspired or sci-fi movie that you’ve watched recently?
Most recently we all watched the original “Avatar” film — it’s the first time Felix and Alfie saw it and they found the story and the graphics incredible, even without the 3D.
You are a second-time finalist now. What does that mean to you?
Being a second-time finalist is incredibly exciting and rewarding. We very much enjoy sharing our films with audiences and scientists around the world. We are very grateful to Quantum Shorts for this opportunity.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about you or your film?
One great piece of news is that Felix’s school science project is going to space with NASA! The project from his team that looks to purify wastewater in life support systems using algae was recently selected as part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program to be launched to the ISS in the summer of 2023.
Felix is a seventh grader, a physics fan who has directed dozens of short films, Alfie is in second grade and loves science and soccer, Paul is a writer and film director as well as a science journalist. Petra is a yoga teacher and sound healer as well as a film producer, and Ezra is currently just six months old but full of great ideas.