Genre
Synopsis
As the laws of physics are rewritten, LIGHT MASS ENERGY tells the story of Mileva Marić Einstein, an unconventional woman at the center of the 20th century's most important scientific discoveries. Interweaving the history of physics with Mileva’s collaboration with Albert Einstein, their failed marriage and her struggles with mental illness, the film is a bold and modern depiction
of a woman ahead of her times. Using physics as a metaphorical springboard, LIGHT MASS ENERGY poetically grapples with those questions at the center of the human experience: what is the nature of our reality and what defines our legacy?
ARCHIVAL NOTE: This project is informed by unique access to archival materials related to Mileva Marić. The director/screenwriter’s husband’s great-grandfather, Heinrich Zangger, was among Albert Einstein’s closest confidants in Zurich, and secured his job at the Zurich Polytechnic Institute. The most intimate letters (some of which have never been made public) revealing Einstein’s disposition towards his wife and sons were addressed to Zangger, who took in the two children when Mileva had a nervous breakdown and was responsible for the logistics of the the family’s care after Einstein remarried and went to America.
Bio
Cynthia Lowen is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and award-winning writer whose work uses the power of story to catalyze meaningful change, confronting timely issues from bullying to online harassment to reproductive rights. She is a 2023 Sundance/Sloan Screenwriting Fellow for her feature narrative script, LIGHT MASS ENERGY, about Mileva Maric Einstein, a pioneering woman in physics who faced rampant discrimination. Cynthia is also the director and producer of BATTLEGROUND, an urgently timely window into the intersection of abortion and politics in America, premiering at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, released in theaters nationwide with Abramorama and streaming on STARZ. She is also the director/producer of NETIZENS (HBO), a feature documentary about women and online harassment. “Bristling with rightful fury,” says Teen Vogue of the film, NETIZENS follows three women as they confront digital abuse and strive for justice online. Cynthia is also the producer and writer of BULLY, a feature documentary following five kids and families through a ‘year in the life’ of America’s bullying crisis. BULLY was nominated for two Emmys, shortlisted for the Oscars, screened at The White House and received a DuPont-Columbia Award for Excellence in Journalism. Cynthia received the Hedgebrook Women Authoring Change Fellowship from William Morris Entertainment and has been a member of the Producers Guild of America since 2014.
