Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The concept of a spinning, ring-shaped spacecraft that generates Earth-like gravity predates 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and even the first satellite launches of the 1950s, and originates in the 1903 writings of the pioneering Russian and Soviet rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. But, more than a century later, no such centrifugal craft has yet been built, despite the theoretical promise of such a project. In One Revolution Per Minute, the Stockholm-based director Erik Wernquist, who is known for his speculative yet deeply science-informed CGI shorts, envisions what such a craft might look like, as well as who it might cater to. Paying careful attention to details, from the practicalities of the physics to the movement of shadows, Wernquist invites viewers aboard the ‘SSPO Esperanta’, a speculative craft that offers guests a luxurious sightseeing tour of the solar system.
Director: Erik Wernquist
Music: Cristian Sandquist
video
Biography and memoir
As her world unravels, Pilar wonders at the ‘sacred geometry’ that gives it structure
20 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
Why strive? Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave’s letter on the threat of computed creativity
5 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
‘I know that change is possible’ – a Deaf prison chaplain’s gospel of hope
18 minutes
video
Physics
Find the building blocks of nature within a single, humble snowflake
4 minutes
video
Technology and the self
An artist swaps her head with everyday objects in a musing on consumerism
4 minutes
video
Art
The overlooked polymath whose theatrical oeuvre made all of Rome a stage
30 minutes
video
Physics
Why the golden age of total solar eclipses is already behind us
5 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
An augmented-reality filter reveals the hidden movements all around us
7 minutes
video
Beauty and aesthetics
The grit of cacti and the drumbeat of time shape a sculptor’s life philosophy
11 minutes