The Film
Synopsis
For decades, scientists have spent billions searching outer space and the remotest places on Earth for stardust – tiny particles formed at the birth of our solar system. Norwegian jazz guitarist and amateur geologist Jon Larsen took a radically different approach: he searched for them in urban gutters.
After years of experimentation, Jon develops a method to identify genuine micrometeorites among terrestrial debris. His claims are initially met with scepticism and ridicule. Yet his persistence leads to international recognition, global media coverage, and collaboration with leading cosmologists. Eventually, even NASA scientists acknowledge that his rooftop method could revolutionise research in the field.
Filmmaker Elisabeth Rasmussen begins documenting Jon’s journey while exploring her own existential questions rooted in Sámi mythology and childhood memories of starry skies in the Arctic. Interweaving a decade of observational footage, intimate conversations, interviews with leading scientists and breathtaking microscopic imagery, We Are Stardust moves from electron microscope laboratories to photography, the film reveals extraordinary beauty within particles invisible to the naked eye. At its heart, the film is an underdog story – a love letter to citizen science, human resilience, and the universal desire to understand where we come from.
After years of experimentation, Jon develops a method to identify genuine micrometeorites among terrestrial debris. His claims are initially met with scepticism and ridicule. Yet his persistence leads to international recognition, global media coverage, and collaboration with leading cosmologists. Eventually, even NASA scientists acknowledge that his rooftop method could revolutionise research in the field.
Filmmaker Elisabeth Rasmussen begins documenting Jon’s journey while exploring her own existential questions rooted in Sámi mythology and childhood memories of starry skies in the Arctic. Interweaving a decade of observational footage, intimate conversations, interviews with leading scientists and breathtaking microscopic imagery, We Are Stardust moves from electron microscope laboratories to photography, the film reveals extraordinary beauty within particles invisible to the naked eye. At its heart, the film is an underdog story – a love letter to citizen science, human resilience, and the universal desire to understand where we come from.