FILMMAKERS, MUSICIANS, PHOTOGRAPHERS

I LOVED your film! So witty and sophisticated!  Ricky (Leacock) would have adored it!  
James Rutenbeck. Award Winning Filmmaker

The movie was fantastic. I think everyone should have the opportunity to be embedded with a bunch of astrophysicists. Even though much of the science in the movie was beyond me, the humanity that you were able to capture was so powerful.  
Toni Pepi Nationally Recognized Photographer

I feel confident saying I have never seen anything like Cosmic Coda and likely never will – it had a singular MJ imprint in its searching, playful construction. Loved the music, her hand-written interludes, the endless maze of cords and foil covered surfaces I’ll never understand. In terms of the topic she somehow managed to capture science research’s range from the infinitesimally small to unfathomably infinite. Without sacrificing the why.  Plus she had the good sense to add a cow.   
Erin Trahan  Arts Journalist, WBUR, Boston Globe, The Independent

Loved the film and happy you explained the cow at the end!  Would be great to explore possibilities for an event at the museum!  
Michael John Gorman. Director:  MIT Museum

First of all, let me say that you have done a great job with tone. The VO helps a lot and makes it not only fun to watch but it makes me feel that curiosity that is behind the most noble and beautiful idea of science.  At many times, the movie feels like a child discovering how the world works, which is ultimately why all these scientists you portray do what they do. Their work feels relevant, important, unknown and very hard to do. You can tell everyone is here against a very important quest, but you see them as people, far from superheroes, therefore it creates a lot of empathy for them.  
Álvaro Congosto Independent Filmmaker 

The attention you pay in this film to the human elements—both character arcs and the how-it’s-done aspect of things makes it so fascinating and unique.  I think that the delight and humor and play that comes across both in general in the scientists’ attitude toward their work and life and the tone you establish as narrator are at the root of its appeal, and maybe its purpose.  This is what links scientists and artists:  this wonderful balance between disciplined work, craft, and attention to detail on the one hand, coupled with an absolute delight in exploration, a willingness to live with uncertainty, and an acceptance of the possibility of total failure (which is part of why it’s fun, it’s so daring).  
Jeanne Rossier Smith Nationally Recognized Pastel Artist

As a student myself, I loved that everyone from the graduate students to the heads of research projects were humanized in a way that is rarely seen in other science documentaries. The relatability of their remarks and the process of going through their daily lives made me feel genuinely invested in them and their mission even though I knew nothing about gravitational waves. And I think that is incredibly important, not only for general viewers, but also for the aspiring physicists that may be watching: here's what it's like to go through graduate school, to take on a big research mission like LIGO, to deal with thesis defenses, to make time for friends and colleagues. These are real, lived experiences, and it's wonderful to finally see them represented onscreen.
Qing Lee Phd Candidate Music Composition

I really enjoyed the screening last night - you’re absolutely right, much better watching it with an audience than the first time on my computer:
Laugh out loud humor - so much caring for the scientists - a closeup look at the guts of science. Most of all, it delivers a hopeful message: persistence in the face of difficulties, power of team work, successful scientists balancing life-work challenges. A feeling of purpose answering big questions. Who wouldn’t want to be a scientist after watching this? (Not to mention if you then decide to give it up, you could become a hedge fund manager.) It’s a human film, alive, breathing. Lovely sound track, imaginative shooting, graceful editing. Touché!
Alex Griswald Filmmaker, Harvard Center for Astrophysics

Your film is wonderful, and I had no idea your creativity included the animation work. Stunning! Your perspective, your sense of humor, your absolutely terrific care to introduce each person and their story (which I loved even more than the science) — were all terrific. It was truly about the people, though you did a great job of summarizing the science. Your shooting was superb, and the whole film was a treat.
Barbara Costa    Filmmaker

The whole family would be very honored to have the screening dedicated to my father. He was very enthusiastic about the film, both in its original and new, updated, version, and I know of no account, in words or pictures, that better captures the environment of his lab in its earlier days. 
Ben Weiss, MFA Leonard A. Lauder Senior Curator of Visual Culture and Rainer Weiss's son

I love your 16mm footage. It was a joy to watch you handheld and seeing how you film process footage. You're the best. Seeing time jump decades its so powerful. And the score of the singing makes us ask the right questions.
Joshua Weinstein Filmmaker

Your film made me think of so many things: 
- Capturing footage from over 40 years of this project is SO SPECIAL. Especially now - seeing a group of white dudes pass the torch to a diverse group of scientists from around the world was a really emotional experience for me in 2025. It also made me think a lot about how we (not you and me, more so our leadership) are failing at this so BADLY right now in the “Great American Experiment,” and how we could learn something from scientists about working for something greater than ourselves.

- Time is mutable - you, as the artist, did this for their narrative while they were exploring time and space in their experiment! I thought that was very cool. Also, a great reminder why both science and the arts are important - you really made me care about their work! 

- The way you broke down the science was awesome and fun, and I really liked the drawings! 

- Room Full of Teeth was the PERFECT musical choice! 
In short, I loved your movie, and I understood more than I thought I would! 
Morgan Beckford Mezzo Soprano


Here's a Long but Thorough one: 
I was transfixed by this film from beginning to end. I marveled at the sheer scope of the undertaking, both in terms of the project itself - spanning forty years, requiring acres of land and miles of tubes and wires; and at the other extreme, the microscopic details, devices and subatomic particles that had to be discovered, measured, understood, fabricated and harnessed.
 
But for me, it was as much about the people as the science, Their triumphs and shortfalls sometimes caused my spine to tingle, sometimes my eyes welled up, and I often laughed out loud.

It is by far the funnest, funniest and most engaging science film I have ever seen.  Though most if not all the audience knew that the project would be a success in the end, the filmmaker and the scientists and technicians clearly did not at the time. Failure was a real possibility, and the anxiety they felt and the tension it created were palpable throughout.  In the end, they succeeded. Such a joyous moment: they did it!
 
The filmmaker is also a marvel. She clearly had the trust of her subjects, from the Nobel laureate to the struggling undergraduate physics major; from the lead scientist to the cleanup crew. Interviewees readily expressed the full range of emotions throughout as they talked of their hopes, dreams and worries. She truly captured the heart and soul of this scientific endeavor.  MJ's sense of humor infused the story from beginning to end.
 
The film was greatly enhanced by a tone-setting soundtrack as well as by the hand-painted watercolor diagrams which were used to explain the mysteries of the cosmos.  And I loved the cows.   
Scott Street  Berklee College of Music IT Director (retired) and amateur singer