Fascinated by an elementary ‘ghost’ particle, artists Hannie van den Bergh and Jan van den Berg travel to the prestigious Super–Kamiokande physics experiment at a depth of 1000 meters in Mozumi-yama in Japan. In the village on the mountain a variety of international scientists live and work together with the native inhabitants and their spiritual leaders. What starts as a personal journey of discovery for physics knowledge transforms into a universal, existential quest.
Premise
The elementary ‘ghost particle’ neutrino confronts us with the unknown in nature and in ourselves.
Synopsis
Neutrino is a mental road movie about the quest that live performing artist Jan van den Berg undertakes in and around the Japanese mountain village of Mozumi (Hida, Gifu Prefecture). In this former mining community, indigenous villagers live together with a varied international group of physicists, executing research into the so-called neutrino; an elementary ‘ghost’ particle that is known for being extremely invisible and elusive. That is why the neutrino is considered a symbol for ‘the unknown and the indefinable’ in nature and within ourselves.
Billions of neutrinos flash through our bodies every second. Like bullets through fog. Non stop. Without us noticingit. And without all those neutrinos taking any notice of us. The neutrino is sometimes called ‘the poet among the elementary particles’ — the particle that brings poetry into physics — because it acts almost constantly as the exception to the rule, the eccentric of the universe. At the same time, the universe and we ourselves would not have existed if it had not been there: the neutrino, the exception, ‘the poet’.
Together with the international scientists, the local villagers and the spiritual leaders who live and work in the mountain village, Jan tries to enter into a dialogue with the mysterious ghost particle. Based on the scientific view of the neutrino experts, the everyday experiences of the villagers and the philosophical view of the spiritual leaders of Mozumi, he seeks an answer to the question what the neutrino — the unknown — tells us about ourselves.
Gradually the film changes Jan’s search from a quest for exact knowledge into a philosophical journey of discovery. Leading to the realization that everything in life might be completely different than we thought until now.
Exclusive access
In the summer of 2018, the management of Super-K granted the film crew exclusive permission to film in the heart of the detector. A possibility that only occurs once every eight years when the tank is opened for cleaning and refurbishment works. The filmdirectors owe this privilege, among other things, to the fact that they’ve established and maintained a special relationship with Professor Suzuki-san and the Super-K organization since 2004.
Crew
Director Hannie van den Bergh | Jan van den Berg Camera Claire Pijman | Sander Snoep Sound Jeffrey Jousan Camera drone Hirotaka Yamazaki | Claire Pijman Music Jacq Palinckx Editor Katarina Türler
Sound design | final mix Wiebe de Boer Colouring | deliveries Laurent Fluttert Graphic design Studio HB Voice over Jan van den Berg Dramaturge Tamara Vuurmans Transcriptions Lisa Hoekstra Translation | subtitles Herman te Loo (EN), Geert van Bremen (J), Ingeborg Hansen (NL)
ProducerseriousFilm Koert Davidse | Marc Thelosen Commissioning editor KRO-NCRV Laetitia Schoofs Production Manager KRO-NCRV Albert Aartsen Line producer Japan 2018 | interpreter Botan Yasuyoshi & Hirokiti Line producer Japan 2022 | interpreter Makoto Sugano (Telecom Staff Inc.) Broadcasting CompanyKRO-NCRV (Buddhist programming)
2023 3 December, EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam (première) Q&A met makers 15 December, Nautilus Filmzaal, Amsterdam, (English version) Q&A met makers 16 December, Nautilus Filmzaal, Amsterdam (Dutch version) Q&A met makers
2024 5 march, Filmtheater Mimik, Deventer (Q&A met makers en Patrick Decowski), ism. Science Café Deventer 15 March, Filmfestival InScience, Nijmegen (English version) 25 April, AFO|Academia Film Olomouc, Olomouc Czech Republic, International Competition 27 April, AFO|Academia Film Olomouc, Olomouc Czech Republic, International Competition 16 May, NIKHEF Amsterdam (English version) Q&A met makers en Patrick Decowski 26 June, Dutch Embassy Tokyo (by invitation only) 28 June, Kamioka Junior Highschool, Japan 29 June, Mozumi House of Dreams, Japan 30 June, Chiba University Tokyo, Japan 3 July, Image Forum Tokyo, Japan 4 July, Studio J Tsukuba, Japan 6 July, FabCafe Tokyo, Japan
25 Oct & 17 Oct, PARISCIENCE festival 2024, France Compétition Science Télévision (Grand Prix AST) and Prix de Public Grand Prix AST- Ville de Paris 13 November, Il cinema del carbone Mantova (IT), introduction Francesco Vissani
