A Wellcome Trust-funded filmmaking project plans to explore the
94 elements that occur naturally on Earth, from hydrogen to
As part of the project -- called, predictably, 94 Elements --
filmmakers are invited to pick one of the 94 elements and create a
4-7 minute film reflecting on its impact on human lives. Films have
already been made about three of the elements: oxygen, copper,
germanium and gadolinium.
Gadolinium, for example,
is often injected into patients having MRI scans to create a greater visual contrast between normal
and abnormal tissues. Sundance winner Nino Kirtadze created a short
about a man going to have his shoulder scanned in Tbilisi in
Georgia. The film follows the man as he explains his subsequent
diagnosis to his family.
Germanium, on the other hand, is used as a lens coating on
surgical microscopes. It helps to focus the different wavelengths
of light passing through the lens. As such the short film for the element
-- made by Mike Paterson, who launched the initiative -- focuses on
an eye clinic in New Delhi India where they restore people's
eyesight through cataract surgery.
Bafta-winner Mark Isaacs has created a film about oxygen, looking at a sick man
relying on a nasal oxygen tube to help him breathe.
The 94 Elements team is currently looking for funding
on Indiegogo so
that it can produce more of the films. It is also running two pitch
competitions for any filmmakers offering up $8,000 (£4,900) for
five- to seven-minute films exploring one of the other elements.
The team asks for films to be "surprising, funny and unique human
stories involving the elements". They point out that they are not
looking for documentaries, which probe the science of the elements
but "our human relationships with natural resources".
Mike Paterson was inspired to launch the project by the speed at
which we are using up our mineral resources. He explains: "The
costs of exploiting even poorer deposits are becoming ever greater,
with a single zinc
mine in Namibia using 20 percent of the entire country's
The project has a supporting digital platform built by design
studio Catalogtree which will
combine Twitter streams and live commodity prices for each element,
along with maps of where you can find that particular resource.
The aim is to release one or two films per month over the next
few years. Filmmakers interested in participating can find out more
on the Elements 94
Check out the video summarising the project embedded in this