search

Particle Fever

Particle Fever

The promotional notes for the terrific documentary “Particle Fever,” which chronicles the search by physicists for the elusive Higgs boson, or “God particle,” proudly exclaim: “Imagine being able to watch as Edison turned on the first light bulb, or as Franklin received his first jolt of electricity.”

For once, the hype isn’t far from the truth. In “Particle Fever,” directed by former physicist Mark Levinson, we are actually present at the moment on July 4, 2012, when researchers at CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics near Geneva, announced the results of proton-smashing experiments from its Large Hadron Collider essentially confirming evidence of a “Higgs-like” particle – the last missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics.

It took several decades and billions of dollars for nearly 10,000 scientists sharing data on 100,000 computers in 100 countries to arrive at this point. Assuming the results hold, I suppose some will still ask, “Why bother?” At an Aspen Institute forum, physicist David Kaplan, the film’s co-producer and one of its half-dozen featured scientists, is asked this very question by – who else? – an economist, who wonders whether the discovery will have any practical applications. Kaplan is self-effacingly blunt in his response: “It could be nothing – except for understanding everything.” One of the underlying themes of “Particle Fever” is the way in which an entire field of science can hinge on a single event. More than that, it’s a movie that asks if we have reached, or will ever reach, the limits of human knowledge. The youngish scientists represented here by Kaplan and other standouts, including Princeton theorist Nima Arkani-Hamed and experimentalist Monica Dunford, are well aware of their place in history; they know that the Higgs investigations represent their generation’s only true shot at scientific immortality. And yet they are supercautious about supercolliders – they know how easily data can be misinterpreted, how the lust for Nobel Prizes can derange good science.

— Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

Particle Fever

Tue April 15, 2014, 7:30 only, Muenzinger Auditorium

USA, 2013, in English, Color, 99 min • official site

recommend

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Looking for a gift for a friend?
Buy a Frequent Patron Punch Card for $60 at any IFS show. With the punch card you can see ten films (a value of $90).

We Want Your Feedback

Cox & Kjølseth
: Filmmaker Alex Cox & Pablo Kjølseth discuss film topics from their own unique perspectives.

Z-briefs
: Pablo and Ana share Zoom-based briefs on what's currently playing at IFS

Search IFS schedules

Index of visiting artists

Mon Apr 1, 2024

Hot Shots! Part Deux

At Muenzinger Auditorium

Sat Apr 20, 2024

Super Mario Bros.

At Muenzinger Auditorium

more on 35mm...