About this Movie. In 1991, a group of eight people sealed themselves inside a giant dome in Oracle, Arizona, where they attempted to live in complete isolation for two years. Still, we couldn't help but sympathize with these intrepid individuals, whose utopian vision of a self-contained world has uncanny parallels to the reality many people are facing during the coronavirus pandemic as we self-isolate inside. Spaceship Earth is the true, stranger-than-fiction, adventure of eight visionaries who in 1991 spent two years quarantined inside of a self-engineered replica of Earth’s ecosystem called BIOSPHERE 2. (Biosphere 1 is Earth.) Check out the new trailer for Spaceship Earth! Distributed by Neon ("Parasite," "Portrait of a Lady on Fire"), the film traces the origins and outcome of the largely forgotten Biosphere 2 experiment. Director Matt Wolf (Recorder: The Marian Stokes Project) is back with another documentary about extraordinary human commitment to knowledge. Their epic adventure is a cautionary tale but also a testament to the power of small groups reimagining the world. COUNTRY U.S.A. RUN TIME 116 min. The film is being distributed globally through 2020. "Spaceship Earth" gets it right. Things got very testy, very quickly. For example, I understood how to find the path of our planet in the space. Turns out, bananas were similarly popular in Biosphere 2: Midway through the film, one biospherian explains how "nothing improved morale like a good meal." “Spaceship Earth… (At one point, news leaked that oxygen was pumped into the structure, and one "biospherian" brought back a duffel bag of supplies after leaving the dome for emergency surgery. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020, and was released in the United States on May 8, 2020, by Neon.[1]. It's the stranger-than-fiction premise of the riveting new documentary "Spaceship Earth" (now streaming on Hulu, playing in drive-in theaters and available to rent on platforms). With Jared Diamond, David Hughes, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. I recommend this animated documentary for who are interested to get a basic knowledge about the earth and other planets in the solar system. One of the big documentaries from the Sundance Film Festival is now jockeying for a slot in the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature. In one moving scene, the project's CEO Margaret Augustine, who lived outside the dome, discusses her deep fondness for the biospherians, smiling and talking to one participant over the phone as he touches the glass. COMPANY RadicalMedia and Stacey Reiss Productions A few of the ways that "Spaceship Earth" hit a little too close to home:. "We had to make some pretty difficult decisions because some crops were way more productive than others, even if we were sick of eating that," crew member Sally Silverstone says. "If you can sustain a group like this, it can get you through a lot of challenges.". While we have the option to make occasional trips to the grocery store, the biospherians were forced to eat only what they could produce within their 3-acre terrarium. In 1991 a group of countercultural visionaries built an enormous replica of earth’s ecosystem called Biosphere 2. Here's where the people of the experiment are now and what the movie left out. If you've been on social media at all in the past couple months, you've probably scrolled through dozens of pictures of friends' homemade banana bread, which has enjoyed a resurgence as the easy go-to recipe of quarantine. Spaceship Earth Matt Wolf’s 2020 documentary film invites audiences to take a look at the 1991 experiment which saw eight people quarantined in a replica of Earth’s ecosystem. One of the many mind-blowing things about Biosphere 2 is that multiple biomes – a desert, a rainforest and an ocean with a coral reef – co-existed under one roof. One participant recalled an amusing blowout argument with Allen that centered on Dante's "Inferno. Living in close quarters with anyone for an extended period of time is bound to create tension. On birthdays inside the dome, they'd celebrate by making banana cakes – there was no sugar or butter – and they even drank fermented banana wine. Spaceship Earth. If Spaceship Earth is a cautionary tale about the forces that threaten our planet, it is also an inspirational tribute to what a small creative group can achieve. 'Spaceship Earth' explores the mystery of Arizona's Biosphere 2 and the people behind it, What to stream this weekend: Michelle Obama's Netflix doc 'Becoming,' musical 'Valley Girl' remake, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. And although eight people managed to live inside Biosphere 2 for the full two-year plan, its scientific relevance has been contested. Conduct a web search for Biosphere 2 and one of the first things that comes up is the question: Did it fail? (Cue us dancing in our bedroom with our dog.). ), More:'Spaceship Earth' explores the mystery of Arizona's Biosphere 2 and the people behind it, More:What to stream this weekend: Michelle Obama's Netflix doc 'Becoming,' musical 'Valley Girl' remake. Using archived footage and present-day interviews, the film follows the large dome that featured a replica of earth's ecosystem called Biosphere 2, constructed in the Arizona desert. "[2] Metacritic assigned the film an average weighted score of 73 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Living in close quarters with anyone for an extended period of … Trying to see if it is possible to establish human existence on other planets, eight "biospherians" go to live inside the vivarium, where they face ecological issues and accusations of cult-mentalities. The controversial project was roundly criticized by the media and scientific community as a cult: It was conceived by an experimental theater troupe from San Francisco and led by a charismatic artist and inventor named John Allen. The moment resonates with any of us who have been forced to visit friends and family from a safe social distance during the pandemic. I found the correlation between the calendars and some especial days with our location in the space. Spaceship Earth is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Matt Wolf about the 1991 experiment that saw eight individuals spend two years quarantined inside of a self-engineered replica of Earth's ecosystem, dubbed Biosphere 2. Closed captioning is available for this film. It was the first independent film released during the quarantine, with over 250 virtual cinema partners, drive-in movie screenings, and urban projections. Spaceship Earth, a new documentary that’s available for home rental, is about the people who put it together. But he also captures the seriousness of purpose behind what some saw as a giant publicity stunt — and convinces us that this was a one-of-a-kind way to learn some of the things humanity will need to know as this world changes and others are considered for habitation. The experiment was a phenomenon, chronicling daily existence in the face of life threatening ecological disaster. The documentary Spaceship Earth tells the true story of the Biosphere 2 project. The mission was to see if people could create a completely self-sustaining ecosystem indoors without access to outside water, food or oxygen, a feat that its backers hoped  could one day be replicated for long-term survival on the moon or Mars. Almost 30 years later, documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf ’s new film, “ Spaceship Earth ” tells a captivating and uncannily timely story in this era of quarantine and social distancing. The documentary tells us a strange true story about the eight visionaries in 1991, who spent two years quarantined inside the self-engineered Biosphere 2. While many of us across the United States are still ordered to stay at home to quarantine, the documentary Spaceship Earth covers a voluntary quarantine of eight people in 1991. YEAR 2019. "[4], "Neon Buys Hot Sundance Doc 'Spaceship Earth' (EXCLUSIVE)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spaceship_Earth_(film)&oldid=981492677, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 2 October 2020, at 17:05. © 2021 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. [3], John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Using both present-tense interviews and footage from the time, Wolf shows how things nearly fell apart. And yet nearly 30 years later, Leigh rhapsodizes her experience. And when they needed to boost their spirits, the resident would frequently throw dance parties with elaborate handmade costumes. Spaceship Earth - Trailer. Many plants died over time, leaving them with limited food options. That moonshot didn’t exactly hit its mark, but the appeal of “Spaceship Earth,” a new documentary from Matt Wolf with … Documentary Competition. For anyone who's quarantining with roommates, one of the most relatable aspects of "Spaceship Earth" is the annoyance biospherians felt with each other. This meant plenty of places to practice fitness, whether going for a swim or running around the perimeter of the building. The film takes a look at several ways of living sustainable in a world faced with the challenges of global warming. Spaceship Earth is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Matt Wolf about the 1991 experiment that saw eight individuals spend two years quarantined inside of a self-engineered replica of Earth's ecosystem, dubbed Biosphere 2. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Director Matt Wolf‘s documentary Spaceship Earth, which focuses on eight people who lived inside a self-engineered biosphere in the early 1990s, was picked up … Concerns about the state of the Earth were exactly what caused a group of scientist to imagine a life beyond this planet in the early 90s, and fascinating documentary Spaceship Earth … The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020, and was released in the United States on May 8, 2020, by Neon. With the intense media attention and curiosity around the experiment, many onlookers  traveled to the steel-and-glass enclosure just to peek inside – eventually leading Biosphere 2 to open a visitors center. It's an invaluable reminder for us all as we fight over the remote or that last roll of toilet paper this weekend. ", But at the end of the day, "we're all a high-functioning family that works through issues and keeps going," Kathelin Gray, a founder and researcher on Biosphere 2, explains. 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