  Films are nanoscopic elements of foams, emulsions and suspensions, and form a
paradigm for nanochannel transport that eventually tests the limits of
hydrodynamic descriptions. Here, we study the collapse of a freestanding film
to its equilibrium. The generation of nanoscale films usually is a slow linear
process; using thermal forcing we find unprecedented dynamics with
exponentially fast thinning. The complex interplay of thermal convection,
interface and gravitational forces yields optimal turbulent mixing and
transport. Domains of collapsed film are generated, elongated and convected in
a beautiful display of chaotic mixing. With a timescale analysis we identify
mixing as the dominant dynamical process responsible for exponential thinning.
