Symbiosis: Who Cares About Gravitational Waves?

What do colliding black holes and a stroll through Manhattan have in common? Turns out, more than you’d think.

Who Cares About Gravitational Waves? is a short film that explores how ripples in the fabric of space-time might actually be shaping your day-to-day life. With wit and wonder, the film is a playful yet loving tribute to both gravitational waves and the city that never sleeps.

Created as part of Symbiosis, part of the Simons Foundation’s Researcher Engagement Program, the film emerged from a two-week collaboration between astronomer Lieke van Son and filmmaker Kyle Finnegan. Through iconic visuals and comedic narration, they show how what starts in the stars eventually ends up in our parks, bodegas and even onto the subway beneath the city streets.

Join us for a screening of the film, followed by a conversation between van Son and Finnegan, moderated by filmmaker and Labocine founder Alexis Gambis, as they reflect on their creative process and the inspirations behind their cosmic love letter to New York City.

About the Speakers:

Van Son joined the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) as a Flatiron Research Fellow in the fall of 2023. She is jointly appointed as a Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow at the Princeton Society of Fellows. Van Son earned her Ph.D. at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, and a joint doctorate at the University of Amsterdam. Her work focuses on binary stars and massive stellar evolution theory with a focus on sources of gravitational waves. She combines population synthesis models and more detailed stellar evolution simulations to learn something about the elusive life of massive stars.

Born in the same place as American cinema (the great state of New Jersey), Finnegan is a documentary filmmaker and creative director with a passion for science storytelling. He picked up a camcorder at age 11 and never looked back, believing that from the greatest scientific discoveries to the crumbs under the couch cushions, every moment holds a story worth telling. He is currently a creative director at 522 Productions, where he helps craft videos that drive change and inspire action, with a focus on science, technology and public health. His work has been recognized with a TIVA Peer Award. Finnegan received the Young Alumni Creative Development Award from George Mason University to support a short documentary on monosodium glutamate (MSG), exploring its complex history and chef Tim Ma’s efforts to reclaim its reputation. The film has screened at festivals nationwide and is being distributed by GOOD DOCS and PBS. When he’s not behind the camera, he can be found taking photos, hiking or loudly rooting for the New York Yankees.

Gambis is a filmmaker, biologist and associate professor at New York University. He holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Rockefeller University and an MFA in film from NYU Tisch. His work blends fiction and documentary, often through magical realism, and dissects identity, the scientific process and multispecies perspectives through hybrid and experimental forms. Gambis founded Labocine, a research and streaming platform home to the Science New Wave, a movement reimagining science through cinema.