Anna Tchernakova
Telemetry
(DirectorÕs note)
Science-fiction films created
their own aesthetics of Ôspace explorationÕ. Meanwhile, the real history of
Ôspace explorationÕ presents a wealth of material, both fascinating and tragic.
The film is set in a wintry Canada
and centres around the figure of Elena, a young Russian scientist, who falls in
love with a doomed cosmonaut on a Soviet Space Station.
One of the main themes of the film
is that of unattainable love explored through the story of Elena and Ivan as
well as being reflected in the secondary characters.
While the
subject is serious and tragic, life is always richer than just one sentiment,
and the film will employ various conflicting emotions – distance and
proximity, empowerment and helplessness, carnavalesque and subtle, sexual and
spiritual – to embody its story.
1. Setting
The setting of the
story in a remote provincial town is inspired by my personal experience of
living there when I first arrived to Canada as a landed immigrant in November 1994.
I spent three years
(four winters) in Montreal, explored some of the Northern region and
visited places in Ontario many occasions. An immigrant slowly feeling my way in a new life, I bicycled
through blizzards, took post-graduate university courses and attended poetry
readings in English and French. I have always wanted to make a film about this
life, marked by a sense of the small 'village' community, extremes of weather,
and the creative 'buzz'. I gave Elena my own feeling, which I remember very well,
of being a stranger, not always understanding social and cultural codes, or
even words in the languages spoken around me.
It is her
detached, lonely position that allows Elena to serve as the recipient of IvanÕs
broadcasts from space.
The city
of Sudbury seems to be a perfect location for the story - a remote Northern
industrial city which has a distinguished internationally renown research
centre Science North, shaped - a remarkable coincidence - as a giant
snow-flake!
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2. Ivan
The 'space exploration'
theme comes from my childhood fascination with cosmonauts (who were regarded in
the Soviet Union as national heroes)* and the slow realisation of the potentially tragic nature
of this endeavour.
The destruction of the
space station Mir symbolically marked the end of a whole era and, in a way, the
disappearance of my childhood world.
There are
two sources of inspiration for the character of Ivan.
One is the
cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov tragically killed in 1967, aged forty. Under intense
political pressure to mark Labour Day with a new successful space launch,
Komarov was sent to space in a problematic Soyuz 1, despite warnings from the
construction team that the spacecraft was not completely ready and needed more
testing. After a series of accidents in orbit, Komarov was ordered to return.
He manually steered the spaceship down and subsequently burned to death on
descent when both the main and the backup parachutes of the module failed to
open. I would like to dedicate the film to his memory.
The second
inspiration is Sergey Krikalev, a charismatic ex-sportsmen and an engineer, at
present a member of the NASA International astronaut team.
His public
biography as a brave and positive figure is typical for a Russian cosmonaut,
whose ranks were filled through careful selection in order to reflect the
ideals of Soviet society. Born in
St.Petersburg, he went to a technical university around the corner from where I
lived, and his image bears an uncanny resemblance to the students whom I, then
just a schoolgirl, met on the street and secretly admired. KrikalevÕs
record-breaking sojourn on Mir during the period of dramatic changes in Russia
has been extensively documented including ÔOut Of This WorldÕ, a documentary
shot on Mir by the various crew members.
I have
done extensive research on the history of space exploration, both in Russia and
elsewhere. The information I used while writing the script came from various
publications, the most significant being NASAÕs ÔOral HistoriesÕ archive;
issues of a periodical ÔNovosti KosmonavtikiÕ for 1999-2004; Anatoly ZakÕs
Russian Space Exploration website; James ObersÕ book Uncovering Soviet
Disasters, and a monograph by Rebrov ÔSpace DisastersÕ (ÔKosmicheskie
KatastrophyÕ), as well as my lengthy conversations with cosmonauts themselves
(including Sergey Krikalev) and staff at the Ground Control Mission.
3.
Snowflakes
Another important
theme of the film, reflected in its title, is the unspoken, invisible
connections between people and events, which help to overcome physical distance
and differences of languages and cultures.
The image of a
snowflake is a visual contemplation of these connections. Formed on
what can be called Ôcosmic dustÕ and reflecting in its shape the conditions of
its formation, the snowflake, this Ôletter from the skyÕ, carries a wealth of
information, from air pollution to the birth of new galaxies. Each snowflake is
unique and each is a powerful, yet short-lived, reminder of the complexity of
the universe. I've found two exciting areas of research related to snow-flakes.
One investigates general rules of crystal formation to be used when growing
complex artificial crystals used in many important areas from electronics to
biochemistry. Another looks at the shape of snowflakes to determine the state
and composition of the atmosphere at the height where the flakes are born. This
can help to measure degree of pollution and strength of cosmic radiation, as
well as alert about the consequences of global warming.
In the
story, however, the snowflakes transcend their purely scientific significance
and become a powerful metaphor: ElenaÕs work to preserve the imprints of
snowflakes and to artificially grow these transient dendrites corresponds to
her fight against IvanÕs predicament.
During my investigation
into the subject I found a research lab in California, which specialises in
artificially-grown snowflakes using a variety of techniques and equipment. The
laboratory has a simple set-up for taking still macro-pictures, which we would
be able to duplicate and adapt for the purposes of production.
