About this Event
LIGO Hanford Observatory proudly presents a screening of the documentary "COSMIC CODA".
This film was directed by MJ Doherty, featuring music from Roomful of Teeth .
This special screening will be preceded by an introduction from Doherty and will be followed by a unique Q&A session with Doherty and LIGO Hanford Observatory staff.
Synopsis:
COSMIC CODA is about the in-between moments of scientific discovery - how it feels going to work each day on a machine that tests both the limits of our universe, and our ability to comprehend this mind boggling goal.
Back in 1985, inspired by her mentor and teacher, the late great Ricky Leacock, MJ Doherty filmed her astrophysicists solo. (MJ was one of Ricky's last grad students.) She began the project without an agenda or message; this made it easier for her film subjects to be who they are, instead of who she wanted them to be.
And so for the contemporary footage she filmed the exact same way, to provide coherence across the massive time gap.
Learn more from the film's official website: https://www.maryjanedoherty.com/cosmic-coda-this
Reviews:
"Wildly Original and funny!
I have never seen anything like Cosmic Coda and likely never will – it had a singular MJ imprint in its searching, playful construction. Loved the music, her hand-written interludes, the endless maze of cords and foil covered surfaces. She somehow managed to capture science from the infinitesimally small to unfathomably infinite. Without sacrificing the why. Plus she had the good sense to add a cow."
-WBUR: Best Films 2025 -Erin Trahan - Arts Journalist
"Now more than ever we scientists need our fellow humans (and dairy cows) to feel how science is not a remote, sterile pursuit, but something that grows out of the core human need for truth and meaning."
-Marta Faulkner - PhD Candidate
Event venue & nearby stays
LIGO Hanford Observatory, 127124 N Route 10, Richland, United States
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