A shortlist for the Quantum Shorts film competition

Ten quantum-inspired films will face an international jury and public vote.

In July, the Centre for Quantum Technologies in partnership with New Scientist magazine launched a competition for short films inspired by quantum physics.

We asked: does the idea of a quantum multiverse fill your head with stories? Can you picture a quantum superposition? Our challenge for the Quantum Shorts film competition was simple: show us how quantum physics makes you think about the world.

Now you can see how people responded. We've just announced on newscientist.com the shortlist of films that will face a public vote and an international jury including physicists, writers and film-makers. From a bizarre animated tale of a girl running between multiverses with her banana-shaped quantum computer phone to a political interpretation of a quantum superposition, the films show diversity, cinematography skills and creativity.

The shortlist of ten was selected from the nearly 50 entries the competition received from around the world. Watch the shortlisted films and vote for your favourite to help decide the People's Choice award. The winners of the judges' and people's awards will be announced in January.

The shortlist already includes one prizewinning film. Congratulations to "Cat in the Box", which has been selected by our local judges as the winner in the Singapore Schools' category. The judges commended the film for cleverly playing on the idea of the Schrodinger's cat paradox and the many worlds interpretation of quantum physics, in a story interlaced with teenage wishful thinking.

Cat in the Box from Aw Khai Sheng on Vimeo.