The space war is also played out in the cinema! And for once it is not the Americans who win … A Russian director and actress flew to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 5: they will be the first in the world to shoot a film in orbit. Co-produced by the main Russian public broadcaster, this film tells the story of a female doctor sent urgently into space to operate on a sick astronaut whose state of health does not allow him to return to Earth.
The actress’s name is Youlia Peressild, usually she stars in historical TV series and feature films. She is 37 and was selected from twenty finalists in a high-profile program in Russia.
Семья Юлии Пересильд на космодроме # Байконур.
Yulia Peresild’s family at the #Baikonur cosmodrome. pic.twitter.com/qjkodrpEcI
– РОСКОСМОС (@roscosmos) October 5, 2021
During its preparation, Yulia Peressild learned to put on a wetsuit, send SOSs using solar collectors, and passed the centrifuge test to get used to weightlessness. All in an accelerated fashion: only 4 months, when a real astronaut has to train in total anonymity for several years.
Filming is scheduled to last 12 days in the Russian section of the ISS, a little distraction for the other tenants, especially the three Russian cosmonauts who will play supporting roles. A priori you will not see Thomas Pesquet, who since October 1 has become the big boss of the International Space Station … not sure he has time to have fun.
As for the director, Klim Shipenko, also Russian, he will take care of the camera, makeup, sound and light all by himself … But the main thing in this story is neither the quality of the script, nor the quality of the script. images.
Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko are due to return to Earth on October 17, as they left, aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. 60 years after Gagarin’s first flight.
Russian space agency Roscosmos needs to restore its image after several corruption scandals and serial blackouts. This flight will be his prestige guarantee. His boss, Dmitry Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister known for his grasp and his patriotic diatribes, even had the flight schedule changed to be sure to be the first to make this film in space … before Americans.
Preparations for shooting first ever feature film in #space are in full swing.
Russian actress Yulia #Peresild & director Klim #Shipenko are training at @roscosmos facilities to fly aboard a Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft to @Space_Station in October.@TomCruise, where you at? pic.twitter.com/vPA6f3IFev
– Russia (@Russia) August 7, 2021
The working title of the film is by the way Vyzov, which means “The Call” or “The Challenge” in Russian. It’s hard not to see a double meaning. It is co-produced by the first Russian television channel, Pervyi Kanal, and is part of a larger project, which includes the production of documentaries to revive the Russians “love and passion” of the conquest of space.
Because Dmitri Rogozin has another project, even more ambitious: to abandon the ISS by 2025, at the end of its life, to equip itself with a strictly Russian station, like the Soviet Union which had created the his (Mir). Moscow and Beijing have also signed a memorandum of understanding to build a station in orbit, or even on the moon, Russia having decided to slam the door of a lunar project in Washington deemed too American-centered. None of these projects, however, has a specific budget or timetable.
At the time of space tourism in any case, it is still war with the Americans. NASA was the first, in 2020, to announce that it was going to shoot a movie in space with Tom Cruise and Space X, the company of Elon Musk. Film which should besides also turn in October. But the Russians, who also had this project in mind, worked extra hard to give it priority.
The stake for Roscosmos is also financial: last year the agency lost the monopoly of manned flights to the ISS, it had to share the market with SpaceX which represents a huge shortfall. A seat (according to Forbes magazine) is at a minimum between 20 and 35 million dollars for eight to twelve days aboard the ISS. Not just a question of prestige, therefore, but also of money.
There remains the final duel in the theaters: to know who will win the palm for the best cinematographic production in space, go (on earth) in 2022.