The discussion revolves around the portrayal of space exploration in film and its crucial role in shaping humanity's future perspective. Cinema has always had a significant impact on people's vision of the future, and filmmakers like Georges Méliès and Fritz Lang had begun dreaming about space exploration through their films long before it became possible. In the Soviet Union, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky consulted on Space Flight film to ensure scientific accuracy.
The depiction of space in mass media was influenced by visionary directors who gained popularity in the latter half of the 20th century. Hollywood legends such as Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron brought their interpretations of space to life on the big screen. At the same time, in the USSR, Pavel Klushantsev, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Richard Viktorov also explored the concept of space through their works. Thus, science and futurology fiction have long focused on space as the central theme.
At the start of the 21st century, people's interest in space exploration decreased, causing science fiction to be replaced by fantasy in popular culture. However, recently, there has been a renewed interest in depicting the future in cinema, with space colonization as the primary theme. Hollywood directors, as well as Russian filmmakers, have revisited the theme of space, with films such as “The Martian,” “Gravity,” “Ad Astra,” “Salyut-7”, “Mira,” “The Challenge” and others hitting the screens.
Humanity faces new challenges and issues, such as international cooperation in space, space tourism, ecology, prevention of space wars, and moon colonization. Space is no longer a mere scenery but rather a film set. During transitional and critical periods in the history of civilization, humanity has always looked up to the sky in search for a shared vision for the future. In the past, space was the subject of myths, then novels followed. Now, we see this in films. And these films have the power not only to portray our future but also to shape it
Speakers:
- Mehmet Bozdag, director, producer, Founder of Bozdağ Film Company (Türkiye);
- Alexey Uchitel, , film director (Russia);
- Alexander Zharov, CEO of GazpromMedia Holding (Russia);
- Konstantin Ernst, Producer, General Director of Channel One JSC (Russia);
- Dmitry Davidenko, Director of the Department of Cinematography and Digital Development of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation (Russia);
- Anton Malyshev, Executive Director of the Kinoprime Foundation (Russia);
- Sofya Mitrofanova, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of MTS Media (Russia);
- Ruben Dishdishyan, , Founder of Mars Media (Russia);
- Alexey Fursin, Head of the Department of Culture of Moscow (Russia).
Moderator: Klim Shipenko, screenwriter, producer, and director of the first feature film shot in space.