Collisions

Directed by

Anaïs Prosaïc

Written by

Ursula Bassler

Produced by

La Huit, Cinaps TV, CEA, CNRS

Documentary, France, 2008, 54 min

Matter represents a mere 5% of the energy in the universe. What’s the rest of it made of?

What we learn from the LHC, the largest physics machine ever invented by man, could very well revolutionize the way we look at the world. Collisions hopes to engage the viewer in the final construction phases of an enormous particle accelerator called the Large Hadron Collider. The European LHC is a giant microscope that enables imperceptible phenomena to be observed. In its complex circuits, accelerated particles collide to reproduce the physical conditions that prevailed in the primordial universe.

Three researchers of different nationality and expertise will take us on a VIP guided tour around the CERN and through the tunnels of the LHC. Collisions strives to uncover the daily existence of the researchers taking part in the experiment, the nature of their work, their vision of the world and society, and the transnational operation of the physicists’ community.

Debate with :

• Anaïs Prosaïc, director
• Ursula Bassler, director and physicist at CEA
• Gilles Le Mao, producer