CPH:DOX at the Round Tower: “We Are Stardust” + Live Event on Citizen Science
CPH:DOX at the Round Tower: “We Are Stardust” + Live Event on Citizen Science
Join us this March when the documentary film festival CPH:DOX screens films from its science program in the Library Hall. On March 21, you can experience Elisabeth Rasmussen’s film “We Are Stardust,” accompanied by a discussion on Citizen Science.
CPH:DOX is Copenhagen’s international film festival, which each year presents the strongest documentary films from Denmark and abroad at various locations across the city. This year, as part of Light Year 2026, you can watch films from their science section in the Library Hall of the Round Tower, as the historic space is temporarily transformed into a festival cinema. Over time, the Library Hall has housed everything from the University of Copenhagen’s book collection and the Zoological Museum’s storage to changing exhibitions on both science and history.
FILM: We Are Stardust
For decades, astronomers around the world have searched for stardust in space and in the most remote corners of the Earth. Finding stardust among us in urban areas is considered impossible. But amateur researcher Jon Larsen has not lost heart.
Armed with a broom and a magnet, he searches for microscopic particles on rooftops and in gutters. With minimal resources, he cleans his samples under the kitchen sink. Jon claims to have found genuine stardust. His claim is met with ridicule and rejection from the established scientific community. But what if he is right? What if the mysteries of life can be found in the gutter?
“We Are Stardust” is an enchanting story about the little man’s struggle against the scientific elite. With unwavering faith in his own abilities, self-irony, and irresistible charm, Jon Larsen gets closer and closer to solving the mystery until the unthinkable suddenly happens.
Duration: 101 minutes. The screening is accompanied by a talk.
LIVE EVENT: What Makes a Scientist?
“We Are Stardust” follows Norwegian Jon Larsen. One morning, a micrometeorite lands in his breakfast—and from that day on he dedicates all his time to searching for the universe’s microscopic gifts. The film’s director, Elisabeth Rasmussen, follows Jon’s journey from hobby enthusiast into the world of science as he attempts to prove that what he finds are genuine scientific discoveries.
After the screening, we will discuss the concept of Citizen Science and how knowledge can emerge from anywhere. But how should it then be incorporated into scientific practice? When does skepticism become healthy? What role do intuition, play, and curiosity have in the pursuit of knowledge? And do outsiders and amateur researchers have a real place in science?
The conversation will be in English.
Look forward to a different kind of experience, where films about science are enriched by the historic atmosphere of the tower. Your film ticket naturally includes access to the rest of the tower, so you can explore the current exhibitions in the Library Hall, the iconic Spiral Ramp and the Hollow Core, the Bell Loft, and the city’s spires, towers, and rooftops from the view at the top.
The film screenings are part of the program for Light Year 2026 at the Round Tower – a full year marking light and the 350th anniversary of Ole Rømer’s groundbreaking discovery of the speed of light.
