Director: Francesco Cannavà, Producers: Fabio Fagone, Vincenzo De Marco, Renata Giuliano Antonio Padovani, Executive producer: Francesco Mollo, Harald Pignatelli, Co-Production: Skylight Italia, 8 Road Film, Beagle Media Sas, LattePlus, Language: Italian & English, Country: Italy, Germany, 52’/80’/6×12-17′, 2020, 4K, Rights: World
A SKY ARTE documentary. On July 20th, 2019, exactly on the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, the European Space Agency’s space mission “Beyond” was launched. With an ambitious goal: “Beyond” is intended to advance the further exploration of space, with the Moon and Mars firmly in view. The Italian Luca Parmitano is leading the mission as Commander of the International Space Station (ISS). But who are these astronauts, who are these men and women who spend months in space and totally dedicate themselves to the progress of mankind? Who leaves family and friends behind? Who exposes themselves to microgravity and renounces almost every comfort? Nationality, language and gender seem to play no role on the ISS. To what extent does the shared view of the distant Earth, the so-called “overview effect”, unite the astronauts? Do they return changed by the experience of space? What insights can we draw from this? We talk to ESA astronauts Luca Parmitano to give a voice to the men and women who accompany them before, during and after their mission.
About the creators
SPACE BEYOND is an international co-production, Italy – Germany, made by Skylight Italia, 8 Road Film, Beagle Media and Latteplus. Based in Italy and Germany, these four realities have two things in common: the internationalization of their audiovisual productions and their Italian roots. In recent years, they have developed and produced films, documentaries and fiction, in collaboration with the main European realities such as Rai Cinema, Rai Tv, Nexo Digital, BBC, Sky Arte, Sky Documentaries, ARTE (France and Germany), WDR, RSI Swiss.
Cast
Luca Parmitano, Frank De Winne, Maybritt Kuypers, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Matthias Biniok.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
I don’t separate fiction movies from documentary movies, I don’t see them as antagonists. At the beginning of every movie there is always the same thing: an idea, a thought, a character and a story to tell. The title “Space Beyond” is a reference to “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Just as in Kubrick’s masterpiece, the main theme of our documentary is mankind’s evolution and potential.
I would like to tell the story of how human beings find answers for the future. The footage for the movie will be shot with the RED Helium 8K camera, the same model as the astronauts use inside the ISS. The movie’s visual dimension will not only rely on moments captured by the cameras – which will have a purely documentary intent – but will also be, thanks to the resources provided by ESA and NASA, an iconographic, visually powerful portrait of the beauty of Earth and the magnificence of the Cosmos.
We will alternate photographs, archive footage and interviews. The narration will be balanced between the mission’s scientific aspects and the existential questions regarding the astronauts’ lives in space. To make our movie even more personal, we will use videos shot by Luca Parmitano himself on board of the ISS.