Primer

Primer

Sloan Foundation Film

Release Date

2005

Director

  • Shane Carruth

Cast

  • Shane Carruth
  • David Sullivan
  • Casey Gooden

Awards

  • Sundance Film Festival, 2004

Four friends and fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.

Two friends (Shane Carruth, David Sullivan) invent a form of time travel, and though they think they are being smart about using it, within just five days, selfishness and shortsightedness lead them to create so many overlapping timelines that they lose control of themselves, their friendship, and the technology.



Possible Topics

  • Are time machines theoretically possible?
  • Nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory explained

Past Programs

2005

The Accidental Nature of Innovation

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA

2013

Understanding Time

Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM

The Physics of Time Travel

The Cinefamily, Los Angeles, CA

2014

The Quantum Theory of Time Travel

Belcourt Theatre, Nashville, TN

2015

The Consequences of Time Loops

Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY

2016

The Reality of Time Travel

Gateway Film Center, Columbus, OH

2017

When Time Repeats Itself

Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville, PA

The science behind Primer

Enzian Theater, Maitland, FL

2018

An introduction to nonlinearity and chaos

Shotgun Cinema, New Orleans, LA

2019

Do we really know what we think we know?

The Nickelodeon, Columbia, SC