Theory of Everything stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones (WireImage)

The weekend aimed to promote science-themed films, especially those that implement working scientific theories. Summit-goers saw two movies Friday, one of which has already received nods from The Academy. 

“The Theory of Everything”, which included not only the real science, but also the hardships and triumphs of legendary scientist Stephen Hawking and his first wife, Jane Hawking, embodied precisely what the summit aimed to achieve in film. The screening on Friday was followed by a Q&A with the film’s stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, Producer Lisa Bruce, and David Kaplan, a professor of physics. 

Capturing the lives of Stephen and Jane Hawking in just the right way took great time and effort. 

“The most difficult thing was getting Jane…she provided us with the ability to go into [the Hawkings'] private life,” said Bruce. “It took some time and persuading to trust what the movie would be like.” 

Included with the biography of romance, family and Hawking’s bodily atrophy was, quite necessarily, the narrative of Hawking’s work. It showed his sparked interest in the subject of time, his “Eureka” moments of realizing that black holes radiate as well as the development of his first gravitational singularity theorem, and his excursions around the world to accept various awards. 

Still, the movie chose to focus more on the emotion – quite a contrast compared to the other works surrounding Hawking – making the scientist’s work appear all the more impressive. “[Hawking] blew us all away,” said Kaplan of himself and academic colleagues. “To watch [during the movie] what state he was in when he made [a] discovery was unnerving.” 

Also unnerving, said Redmayne, “You play the part knowing the actual people will be seeing the film and ultimately be the biggest critics.” 

The actors did extensive research on their real life counterparts, and had only five days to spend with the Hawkings in the flesh. This also made the actors anxious, wondering if their investigations led them to the wrong conclusions about the Hawkings’ personalities. 

“I spent about 45 minutes telling Stephen Hawking about Stephen Hawking. It was incredibly embarrassing,” said Redmayne. 

Jones also described her experience. “The main thing I got from meeting [Jane]…I love the way she moved. You’re just trying to absorb everything about that person to capture that essence.” 

The film aimed to depict the Hawkings as accurately as possible while maintaining utmost respect for its subjects. When the movie was finished, Stephen was one of its first beholders. Of course, worries were still abuzz. 

Redmayne recounted telling him, “Stephen I’m very nervous but please let me know what you think,” to which, according to Redmayne, “[Hawking replied] in his very iconic voice, ‘I will let you know what I think, good or otherwise.’”

By the end of the film, Hawking was crying, said Bruce, “and that was just the most powerful thing.” 

Hawking even let the film feature his actual voice. “That felt for all of us that we had his blessing,” said Bruce.  

Other features films at the festival included “Particle Fever”, “Future Weather”, “Valley of Saints”, “The Imitation Game”, “Basmati Blues”, “The Man Who Knew Infinity" and “Experimenter”. Also on the summit’s queue were the short films “Afronauts”, “App”, “Three Light Bulbs”, “Visible Proof” and “Wild Love”, a staged reading of Sloan-winning screenplay exerpts, and several talks on science and entertainment.

Reach staff reporter Sarah Collins here. Follow her on Twitter here.