Six volunteers, concerned for the survival of humanity spend a year in isolation to find out if they have the right physical and psychological stamina to go to Mars. The documentary follows the crew of 6, led by female physicist Christiane Heinicke, that takes viewers inside the experiment. The goal: to unravel the human variables in team dynamics for future missions to Mars. Filmed by the crew members themselves, this immersive feature documentary reveals what remains when people are pushed to their limits to survive on a new planet.
NASA is preparing to send astronauts to Mars in 2030!
Watching the film provides an inside glimpse of the stress and boredom astronauts will have to endure. The participants are pioneers, but the pressure becomes evident over time. As a viewer, you become acutely aware that this is something we must do because we've killed the planet and now we are killing ourselves. Everything that mankind has achieved, the knowledge, the beauty, the art, and science could all be for nothing if we don't find a new home. It's hard to face the truth.
RED HEAVEN vividly captures six people pushed to their limits in an exploration of our most fundamental needs as human beings.
"Red Heaven is timely in a way that the filmmakers could not have anticipated when they started making the documentary five years ago: It gazes head-on at isolation, confinement, boredom, and stress — issues that nearly everyone is confronting in some combination or another as the world goes on coronavirus lockdown." - The Hollywood Reporter
RED HEAVEN is a Sandbox Films production in association with Seeker and Insignia Films. It was co-directed and produced by Lauren DeFilippo and Katherine Gorringe with cinematography by David Alvarado, original music by William Ryan Fritch, and editing by Katherine Gorringe.
The participants, who volunteered for the experiment, are all uniquely qualified to not only engage in the experiment but also one day live the reality of colonizing Mars. The brave people are:
Tristan Bassingthwaighte
Tristan is a grad student in the new and unusual field of space architecture, studying how to design habitats for future space-faring humans. HI-SEAS is his opportunity to get out of the classroom and into a real-life experience of living on Mars.
Sheyna Gifford
Sheyna is a physician who has always dreamed of being an astronaut. She left her husband at home in St. Louis to be a part of this experiment.
Christiane Heinicke
Christiane is a German geophysicist who is on simulated Mars to support scientific research. Her poetic journals from the mission provide insight into the crew’s experience.
Carmel Johnston
Carmel is a soil scientist from Montana. No stranger to the backwoods, she sees it as no challenge to be isolated for an entire year.
Andrzej Stewart
Andrzej really wants to be a NASA astronaut. Since NASA is currently preparing for future long duration space missions, he thinks they are looking for astronauts who have experience being isolated for extended periods of time, and this is his chance.
Cyprien Verseux
Cyprien is a brilliant Parisian astrobiologist, who studies how to sustain human life on planet Mars.
I hope you take advantage of the opportunity to watch this documentary. It is profound.
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RED HEAVEN is available now to rent or own on AppleTV and Altavod courtesy of Utopia.