The Challenge, or Doctor's House Call[note 2] (Russian: Вызов, romanized: Vyzov) is an upcoming Russian space drama film co-written and directed by Klim Shipenko partially filmed on the International Space Station. It stars Yulia Peresild, Miloš Biković, and Vladimir Mashkov in the title role. It is the first feature-length fiction film to be filmed in space by professional film-makers.[note 3][3][4][5]

The Challenge
Poster of Russian: Вызов, romanized: Vyzov, lit. 'Challenge' with Yuliya Peresild
Directed by	Klim Shipenko
Screenplay by	Bakur Bakuradze (ru) Klim Shipenko Ivan Zamorov Ilya Malakhova
Produced by	Denis Zhalinsky Eduard Iloyan (ru) Aleksey Trotsyuk (ru) Sergey Titinkov Vitaly Shlyappo (ru) Konstantin Ernst[note 1] Dmitry Rogozin
Starring	Yulia Peresild Miloš Biković Vladimir Mashkov Alyona Mordovina Tatyana Dogileva Sergey Burunov Polina Agureeva Oleg Novitsky
Cinematography	Klim Shipenko Boris Litovchenko
Production companies	Roscosmos Channel One START Studio Yellow, Black and White Algous Studio
Distributed by	Central Partnership
Release date	April 12, 2023 (2023-04-12) (Russia)
Country	Russia
Language	Russian

The Challenge
Cast launched to ISS for the film
Space career
A film shot on a space station
Time in space	11 days, 22 hours and 13 minutes (35–40 minutes of production)
Missions	Soyuz MS-19/Soyuz MS-18 (Expedition 65) (Equipment launched on Progress MS-17[1] and returned on Soyuz MS-18)
Mission insignia

The Challenge is scheduled to be released theatrically in Russia on April 12, 2023, by Central Partnership.

Background and pre-production

The screening process began on 15 March 2021.[6] On 14 May 2021, the Interagency Committee approved the composition of the ISS main and alternate crews for the period 2021–2023.[7] Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (commander) and the crew of the film, actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko, flew to the ISS on the Soyuz MS-19. The drama is a joint project of Roscosmos, Channel One and the Yellow, Black and White studio.[8][9] The alternates chosen after passing the medical committee were New Drama Theater actress Alyona Mordovina, director Alexei Dudin[10] and the commander Oleg Artemyev.[11] Alyona became the first woman to pass the cosmonaut screening since 2012.[6] The crew members began training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center on 24 May 2021.[12] On 23 July, the prime crew participated in a four-hour simulation inside a Soyuz replica while wearing the Sokol suit,[13] and on 28 July, the back-up crew completed the same exercise. According to the back-up commander, Oleg Artemyev, the performance of the two back-up spaceflight participants was outstanding.[14] The dress-rehearsals for the movie happened after the scheduled training from the day.[15] On 30 July, the spacecraft had its pre-launch preparation started.[16] On 31 August, the medical committee announced that both the main and reserve crew were healthy for space flight.[17]

Plot

Cosmonaut Ivanov loses consciousness while the spacecraft is in flight. Doctors decide that it will be necessary to perform heart surgery right in zero gravity. Cardiac surgeon Zhenya Belyaeva, who does not have time to raise her three year old daughter, is preparing for the flight.[18]

Cast

• Yulia Peresild as Evgenia 'Zhenya' Belyaeva, a heart surgeon, and female cosmonaut
• Miloš Biković as Vladislav Nikolaev
• Vladimir Mashkov as a designer
• Alyona Mordovina as a woman cosmonaut
• Tatyana Dogileva
• Sergey Burunov
• Polina Agureeva
• Oleg Novitsky as Ivanov, a cosmonaut (the sick astronaut[19])
• Aleksandr Baluev
• Igor Gordin
• Alexey Barabash
• Elena Valyushkina as Galina

Cameos

• Klim Shipenko as a cosmonaut
• Anton Shkaplerov
• Pyotr Dubrov
• Mark T. Vande Hei

Production

The filming equipment was launched on Progress MS-17[1] and returned on Soyuz MS-18.

The director and actress launched into space aboard Soyuz MS-19 on 5 October 2021. They left the ISS again on 17 October 2021, on Soyuz MS-18, with Commander Oleg Novitskiy.[20][21]

Due to the allocation of seats on flights to the International Space Station, the flight of the cameraman/director and actress will necessitate rearranging mission lengths of the professional astronauts and cosmonauts, extending the mission length of the on-orbit crew from 6 months to 1 year, for U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei and his Russian cosmonaut opposite number.[22]

After the successful landing of Soyuz MS-18, Dmitry Rogozin revealed that Konstantin Ernst (Director General or CEO of the Channel One) had paid Roscosmos for Shipenko and Peresild's seats.[23]

Creation

About three thousand applications were submitted for the main role, the number of which was reduced to 20–30, after which Peresild was chosen.[18]

To prepare for filming, Klim Shipenko trained intensively, dropping 15 kilograms (33 lb) of weight. In flight, he himself will perform the functions of an operator, make-up artist and production designer.[18] Anton Shkaplerov will become the ship's commander, while Shipenko and Peresild will fly in the status of spaceflight participants. The backup crew is cosmonaut Oleg Artemiev, cameraman Alexei Dudin and actress Alyona Mordovina.[24]

It is planned that the footage filmed in space will be approximately 35 minutes of the final timing of the film.[18]

According to Ernst, the motivation of the filmmakers is to confirm Russia's leadership in the space sector and to restore the prestige of the cosmonaut profession in the eyes of the younger generation (Yulia Peresild did not dream of space flights as a child).[18] The unique experience of express training for non-professional flight may subsequently be useful for the real need to send scientists or doctors into space.[24]

The MS-19 spacecraft launched on 5 October from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The development of the project will be covered within the framework of the Evening Urgant program, whose members moved to the cosmodrome a week before launch.[18] From 12 September, on First Channel there will also be a reality show called The Challenge: The first in space, about the specifics of the selection and training of project participants.[24]

Movie

Klim Shipenko shot about 30 hours[25] of material (30–40 minutes of film) on the ISS, as well as taking on the positions of director, operator, art director, and makeup artist. Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov will appear in the film,[26] with Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei assisting in the production.[27] Shkaplerov will also appear in some scenes.[28]

Of all the footage filmed in space, about 30% was filmed in the Nauka module, another third was filmed in the Zvezda module, and the remaining 30% was shot on the rest of ISS modules.[29]

Reactions

The film, which according to Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, is an "experiment to see if Roscosmos can prepare two ordinary people to fly in about 3 or 4 months" has received opposition from the scientific and aerospace communities, as to the fact that they remove trained cosmonauts from their flights, a misuse of public money,[30] or even that using the station's resources for non-scientific purposes would be illegal.[31] Sergei Krikalev, director of crewed programs at Roscosmos, reportedly lost his position by speaking out against the project,[32] but was reinstated after a few days following protests from cosmonauts on and off active duty.[12]

Release

The Challenge is planned to be released by distributors, since Central Partnership in the Russian Federation is scheduled to take place in cinemas across the country on April 12, 2023.

Notes

See also

• Apogee of Fear
• Return from Orbit

References

Bibliography

• Quine, Tony (2022). "Alyona's Adventures in Wonderland". Spaceflight. 64 (3): 27–31.

External links

• The Challenge at IMDb

На других языках

[ru] Вызов (фильм, 2023)