Space race doesn’t only happen behind closed cabinet doors, it extends way beyond into all spheres, including culture. 

Last week, a historical flight took place, putting a Russian film crew ahead of Tom Cruise in the mission of shooting a movie in space. Planned to have backed by a SpaceX rocket, the movie didn’t even have a name yet. Meanwhile, actress Julia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko are now in space shooting “The challenge”, with the plot centred around a doctor sent into space to save a cosmonaut’s life. Julia Peresild is a graduate of GITIS, the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts and .ART’s partner in the Community Program. The filming mission will last 12 days, with the film crew and accompanying cosmonauts coming back to Baikonur cosmodrome which Russia leases on the steppes of Kazakhstan. Director Klim Shipenko has already joked that he’s looking forward to the Mars sequel. 

Unfortunately, neither Jeff Bezos nor Elon Musk were present at the historical launch, but considering that both USA and Russia are actively exploring the potential of space for arts and culture, we can definitely get popcorn ready and wait for further developments. 

Article images: Sasha Gusov www.gusov.com