Hot Docs 2017: Let There Be Light

Today, the vast majority of the energy we produce comes from burning fossil fuels.  We generate smaller amounts by splitting large radioactive atoms, capturing a tiny percentage of the energy in sunlight, or other various techniques, but these are not currently capable of generating energy at the same cost and abundance of fossil fuels.  Let There Be Light documents the quest for an entirely different way to generate energy, one that promises to be cheap, plentiful, and pollution-free: fusion.

The film focuses on a megaproject called ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), funded by 37 different nations and currently under construction in the South of France.  The science in the film is well-explained and fascinating, and there are some quirky animated segments to help relate historical events important for fusion research.  The film pieces together interviews, on-site visits to ITER and other experimental fusion reactors, and these animated segments to tell a…