The Hunt For Planet B

Name: The Hunt For Planet B
Director: Nathaniel Kahn
Released: 2021

Nathaniel Kahn 2021

The Hunt for Planet B captures the human drama behind NASA’s high-stakes Webb Telescope, due to launch in October 2021—the most ambitious space observatory ever built. The film interweaves the creation of this massive machine with the story of a pioneering group of female scientists on a quest to find life beyond our solar system. What begins as a real-time scientific adventure turns into a deep meditation on our place in the universe. On the brink of seeing farther out than ever before, we find ourselves looking back at our own imperiled planet with new eyes.

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Running Time:

94 min.

Spoken Languages:

English

Directors:

Nathaniel Kahn

Producers:

Bonnie Hlinomaz, Nathaniel Kahn

Cinematographers:

Robert Richman

Editors:

Sabine Krayenbühl

Production Companies:

Crazy Boat Pictures

Science

Technology

Press

Forbes

“Intriguing… Impressive… The Hunt for Planet B is [a] human story. It reveals a world of thinkers, dreamers and doers that dare to imagine what’s out there on exoplanets…”

Jamie Carter
The Washington Post

“The film features women from all parts of astronomy, from an engineer on the Webb to… Jill Tarter, chair emeritus of the SETI Institute… who was the inspiration for Jodie Foster’s character in the 1997 film Contact…”

Timothy Bella
Realscreen

"The most thrilling and ambitious space adventures of our lifetime... ...what can be accomplished when human curiosity harnesses the power of science to deepen our understanding of our planet and what’s beyond"

Justin Anderson
The New York Times

“[The] search for life is front and center in a new documentary film about the Webb telescope…”

Dennis Overbye
Roger Ebert.com

“An impassioned and unabashedly intellectual documentary… Kahn’s documentary helps us stand back and remember just how essential science is to progress.”

Nick Allen
The Hollywood Reporter

“Kahn’s film is extremely down-to-earth… graspable. But even more so, it manages to put a friendly, mostly female face to all the technical exploits and celestial theorizing…”

Jordan Mintzer

Festival Participation

News & Documentary Emmy® Awards - 2022
Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary
Bergen International Film Festival - 2021
The Golden Owl Award Winner
SXSW Film Festival - 2021
Official Selection

Additional Materials

Distribution Company

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