First acress and director in space: Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko flew into space to shoot the film "Challenge". How did this happen?

Klim Shipenko and Yulia Peresild flew into space to shoot the film "Challenge". How did this happen?  On October 5, the main crew of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft left for the ISS to shoot the film The Challenge. This is the first art project to be filmed at the station. We tell you what is known about the film and the members of the film crew.

What is it about?

Vyzov ("Challenge") is a joint project of Ross, Channel One and the Yellow, Black and White studio. In the center of the story is the cardiologist Zhenya (Yulia Peresild). She has to go into space to operate on astronaut Ivan. He passed out on the ISS and is unable to return to Earth for medical assistance.

The director of the film, Klim Shipenko, described the project as follows: “This is a life drama based, in a sense, on our experience. In the story, a woman doctor who has nothing to do with astronautics is offered to fly to the ISS and save her life. That is, to do what she does on Earth, but only in conditions that are not adapted to this. " The film is divided into two parts: the first is about what happens to the heroine on Earth, and the second is the flight itself and what is happening at the station. The creators wanted everyone to be able to put themselves in the shoes of the main character. “It's such a first-person experience,” the director added.

How was the project prepared?

Ross announced the film in September 2020. The director's chair was immediately taken by Klim Shipenko, the director of the popular hit "Kholop" and the drama about nauts "Salyut-7". But the actress for the main role was sought through an all-Russian open competition. Among the final contenders was Svetlana Khodchenkova (now she is starring in the first Russian Netflix series "Anna K"). As a result, the role went to Yulia Peresild ("The Petrovs in the Flu", "Battle for Sevastopol").

In August 2021, Vyzov received state support after a pitching at the Cinema Foundation. On it, the producers asked for 400 million rubles. The approximate budget is not yet known.

Shortly before the announcement of Ross, in May 2020, it became known that Doug Lyman would shoot an action movie with Tom Cruise in space. Elon Musk's company SpaceX and the American space agency NASA are working on the project. The flight of the film crew to the ISS was also scheduled for October 2021, but there were no updates on the project.

Who flew with Shipenko and Peresild? Will the astronauts appear in the film?

Yulia Peresild, Anton Shkaplerov and Klim Shipenko

The main crew included Klim Shipenko, Yulia Peresild and the Hero of Russia naut Anton Shkaplerov. They went to the ISS. The backup crew included the Hero of Russia, ISS flight engineer Oleg Artemyev, director of photography Aleksey Dudin (T-34) and actress Alena Mordovina (Beetles, Trigger).

Real nauts on the ISS will also take part in the filming. The hero who needs the help of a doctor will be played by naut Oleg Novitsky, and crew member Anton Shkaplerov will play himself, the commander of the spacecraft that will deliver the heroine Yulia Peresild to the ISS. Shipenko said that he specially rewrote the script depending on the characters of the astronauts. The crew will spend approximately 12 days on the ISS. During a pitching at the Cinema Foundation, the director clarified that he plans to shoot 35-40 minutes of footage at the station.

How was the crew prepared for the flight?

The crew was trained through an accelerated four-month program at the Cosmonaut Training Center. Yu.A. Gagarin. The participants underwent parachute training, tests on a centrifuge and a vibration stand, and trained in spacesuits. On the air of Vecherny Urgant, the head of the CTC Maxim Kharlamov said that at Baikonur, participants trained to sleep in a special position, when their legs are above their heads (this is necessary to prepare for sleep in zero gravity).

According to Yulia Peresild, the theoretical part was the most difficult for her. The crew had to quickly memorize the design and all the designations on the ship, as well as the onboard documentation. The brightest moment of preparation for the actress is training in zero gravity. She passed on board the Il-76. The plane climbed to a great height, turned off the engines, and then weightlessness appeared for only 23 seconds. Then he climbed again, and so on several times.

How was the launch of the ship?

Before the flight, the team underwent a final medical examination, and then, according to tradition, went to the ship to the song "Grass at the House" by the group "Earthlings". The launch of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft with the main crew took place at 11:55 Moscow time.

In total, more than 100 people took part in the launch, and director Alexei Uchitel, actors Alexander Petrov and Vladimir Mashkov came to see the film crew. The flight itself will last approximately three hours. By 15 o'clock Klim Shipenko, Yulia Peresild and Anton Shkaplerov should arrive at the Russian module of the ISS "Rassvet".

What else is known about the flight?

• Traditionally, two days before the start, the crew watched the Soviet film "The White Sun of the Desert" (it is customary for nauts to watch it before the flight for good luck). Another tradition is to listen to music before the start. The crew has already compiled a general playlist. It was opened by a song from the cartoon "Antoshka" (it was chosen by the commander of the ship Anton Shkaplerov). Following were "Officers" Oleg Gazmanov and "One" U2.
• Participants can take only 1 kilogram of personal belongings with them. Yulia Peresild will take with her photographs of loved ones and drawings of her daughters, and Klim Shipenko will take a T-shirt in which he began to shoot all his projects.
• The special menu is also thought out. “Borsch and kharcho soup are also available. The menu is many times larger than in any restaurant, ”said the director.
• The sleeping capsule looks like a wardrobe, and it is necessary to sleep vertically in a bag fastened to the wall.
• The crew members will have multiple roles. Shipenko will act as an operator, and Yulia Peresild will act as a make-up artist.
• It took two years to build the Soyuz MS-19 rocket, and the inscription “Vyzov ("Challenge")” was specially put on it.
• The astronauts admit that their face swells up due to weightlessness. Could this make shooting difficult? Here is what Yulia Peresild answered during the conference: “This is a sore point. We thought about this a lot, we have life hacks from astronauts. On the other hand, you understand that weightlessness is weightlessness. You will see me on Earth in my usual guise, but then bear with me, ”the actress shared.