Directed By: Christian Frei
2009 | 90 min
Kazakhstan, Romania, Russian Federation, Switzerland

Friday, November 11: 8:00 pm

Kaufmann Theater
Filmmaker in Person

How much does a dream cost? For Anoushesh Ansari, an Iranian American billionaire weaned on the glory days of American and Soviet space exploration, no price is too high. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, formerly secret installations are now open to the public with enough money to fund their space travel fantasies. In 2006, Ansari paid $20 million for her trip to the International Space Station. While she lives her dream high above the Earth, Magnum photographer Jonas Bendikson takes a ground tour of remote Kazakhstan where the shuttle launches are tracked by scrap metal scavengers and free-falling toxic rocket debris is cobbled together by farmers and shepherds for roofs, tools, and temporary shelters. By juxtaposing these parallel stories, filmmaker Christian Frei recasts the question: How much do such dreams cost the world?

Part of the series Dreams of Outer Space in conjunction with Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration