Stephanie Wehner

In Moonshot Mission

Science

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Synopsis

Moonshot Mission

In 1969 the first message was successfully sent on the internet, heralding a revolution in communication technology. Today, we are on the eve of a new revolution: that of the quantum internet, a fundamentally new way of communicating which relies on the laws of quantum mechanics and is inherently secure, inherently stable and incredibly efficient. This paves the way for applications that haven’t even been thought of yet.

 

Quantum scientist and former hacker Stephanie Wehner is on a mission to develop the first operational quantum internet network before 2030. A daunting task, which some would even call crazy, but Wehner believes she can do it – not only by writing scientific articles, but simply by building it.

 

Credits

Character
Stephanie Wehner
Director
Sara Kolster
Country
The Netherlands
Duration
17 min
Year
2024
Co-producer
Basalt Film
Stephanie Wehner is on a mission to be the first person to develop the “ultimate form of communication”: the quantum internet.
Stepanhie Wehner

Biography

Stephanie Wehner

Stephanie Wehner (1977) is a former ethical hacker, a cyber security expert and a quantum scientist. She aims to use the mysterious realm of tiny particles, the quantum world, to make our communication networks better, faster, and safer.

Wehner is a leading quantum scientist internationally. Her articles on physics and computer science have been cited over 19,000 times and she seeks to further advance the field of quantum mechanics as an organiser and, in the case of QCRYPT, co-founder of international conferences. After working as a researcher at the National University of Singapore and the California Institute of Technology, Wehner now runs her QuTech team at Delft University of Technology, which is building the quantum internet from the ground up.

Acclaims

  • Professor in Quantum Information at Delft University of Technology, former ethical hacker
  • Director of the European Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA), which is developing the blueprint for the Quantum Internet
  • Winner of the Körber European Science Prize 2025
Moonshot Mission at MU Hybrid Art House in Eindhoven as part of the exhibition Explorations of Uncertainty: artists' visions on quantum. Photos: Hanneke Wetzer.
SCREENINGS & REACH
Best Research Film
Physics of Film
Nomination Short & Crisp Award
Silbersalz Science and Media Festival

Premiere and film festivals
Moonshot Mission was the opening film of ScienceVille in 2024, part of Docville Leuven in Belgium, followed by a screening at the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam.

The film then embarked on an international festival run. It was nominated for the Short & Crisp award at the Silbersalz Science and Media Festival in Halle and was subsequently selected by the festival for its satellite programme during Berlin Science Week. In addition, the film won the Best Research Film award at Physics of Film, organised as part of the Institute of Physics in London.

The InScience Film Festival also selected Moonshot Mission for a screening at the Max Planck Institute. Further screenings took place at, among others:

  • Academia Film Olomouc, Czech Republic
  • Spotlight on Academics, Ontario, Canada
  • SHAPESHIFT Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria

Partner screenings
Moonshot Mission was broadcast on the Dutch public television channels NPO2 and NPO2 Extra via NTR. The film is also available to stream on NPO Start.

In addition, the film is part of collaborations across exhibitions, educational institutions and streaming platforms. Moonshot Mission featured in the exhibition Explorations of Uncertainty: artists’ visions on quantum at MU Hybrid Art House in Eindhoven. Other collaborations include:

  • Eye Film Player
  • Max Planck Institute
  • Research TV
The screening of Moonshot Mission at Eye Film Museum in Amsterdam in 2024. Photos: Maarten Nauw.

Director

  • sara kolster

    Sara Kolster

    Sara Kolster is a director and visual designer. She makes films, animations, podcasts and interactive stories in a wide range of media. In 2023 ‘Dead as a Dodo’ was nominated for best youth series at the Cinekid festival. Award winning online animation ‘Why Don’t You Leave?’ was published in 2022 and her short film ‘To the Moon and Back’ premiered at IDFA in 2019. The celebrated ‘When I Was Five’ was released 2017. As an independent filmmaker she realised interactive stories such as the award-winning ‘Virtual Reality Drawing Room’, web documentary ‘Love Radio’, and interactive video ‘Hidden Wounds’.

Curious for more?Watch Prof. Dr. Tamar Sharon in The Digital Dilemma