This week, we're temporarily back at the Weston Arts & Innovation Center.

As part of the TRAVALS & TRAVAILS series:

Proxima

2019, 107 minutes

There was a time when setting off for the other side of the world meant an absence from friends and family for months if not years. Today that kind of separation still applies to millions of refugees, thousands of soldiers and sailors on deployment, and a few dozen astronauts. For the astronauts, none have ventured beyond Earth orbit over the fifty years, but soon enough they will be making long-duration voyages to the planets. In the meantime they train on board the International Space Station, staying aloft for months to approximate an actual voyage.

In the film Proxima, Eva Green plays Sarah Loreau, a French astronaut who is a last-minute replacement for a crew preparing to do one last orbital stint before the first Mars mission. She has been working towards this goal for much of her adult life; however her being selected also means she will be leaving behind her eight-year-old daughter, who she has primary custody over. As Sarah prepares at the European Space Agency in Germany and then at the Russian launch center, her American commander (Matt Dillion) isn’t sure she is up to the challenge. In the hectic days prior to lift-off, Sarah strives to make the grade, but she is painfully conflicted over her choices––her distraught daughter having made it clear what she wants––making for a fraught departure into space.

What is notable about this film by Anna Winocour is its absence of Right Stuff swagger––it is set entirely on Earth with no special effects, but there is a verisimilitude that comes from having been filmed at the actual Star City and Baikonur launch facilities.

Please Note--This film is RATED PG-13, with nudity, profanity, chauvinism, mother/daughter angst and an image of an amenable Russia before the 2022 invasion.