The Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival will be held for the sixth time in Kaluga and the Kaluga Region. The festival’s main venue is the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics.
From April 12 to 16, guests will enjoy free screenings of feature, documentary, animated, and full-dome films for planetariums, along with lectures by scientists, masterclasses, theatrical performances, meetings with cosmonauts, writers, and filmmakers, as well as special presentations from festival partners. Registration for film screenings and other events of the Tsiolkovsky Festival will open on April 1 on the official festival website.
The festival traditionally celebrates cinematic space anniversaries. For this purpose, the program includes retrospectives – classic films that deserve to be remembered in the era of computer graphics. The curator of the retrospective section is film scholar, director, and producer Nikolay Mayorov.
Five films have been included in the retrospective program of the VI Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival:
“Roll Call” – 60th Anniversary
Director: Daniil Khrabrovitsky
A Soviet black-and-white feature film. Multifaceted like a novel, it is built on four interwoven stories. Present-day events alternate with memories from twenty years earlier. The narrative is united by the character of General Zhuravlyov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and now one of the leading designers of space rockets. The stories he recalls are largely based on real events.
“Luna” – 60th Anniversary
Director: Pavel Klushantsev
The first part of this film is a science documentary that showcases the most recent (as of the mid-1960s) scientific achievements in lunar exploration. Scientists discuss hypotheses about the origins of lunar seas, the moon’s surface temperature, and the presumed properties of lunar soil. The second part is science fiction, depicting a near future in which humans begin to explore and settle the Moon – from the first hypothetical mission to lunar cities and laboratories.
The film received the Golden Seal of the City of Trieste at the 4th International Science Fiction Film Festival (Italy, 1966).
“I See the Earth!” – 55th Anniversary
Director: Pavel Klushantsev
A science documentary focused on the study of our planet from spacecraft. The film remains relevant even today. It clearly and vividly explains complex ideas using visual sequences and animated diagrams.
“The Orion Loop” – 45th Anniversary
Director: Vasily Levin
In the depths of space, a mysterious energy cluster heading toward Earth is discovered. An expedition of humans and cyborgs is sent to intercept the “Orion Loop,” as the phenomenon is called. Upon arrival, they encounter an alien civilization that warns of a grave threat to Earth – “the glass disease.” The aliens attempt to save humanity by creating an energy barrier around the planet (the “Orion Loop”). However, understanding between the two civilizations proves to be a difficult path.
The film’s consultants were Soviet cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Vitaly Sevastyanov. Leonov also co-wrote the screenplay.
At the festival, the film will be presented by Oksana Leonova, daughter of Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov, USSR Cosmonaut No. 11 and the first person in the world to walk in open space, twice named Hero of the Soviet Union.
“Mission in Orbit” – 50th Anniversary of the Flight and the Film
The space expedition aboard the long-duration orbital station Salyut-4 with Alexei Gubarev and Georgy Grechko (Zenit cameras, Soyuz-17) lasted 29 days, from January 11 to February 9, 1975.
It was the first spaceflight for both cosmonauts. For years, they had served as backup crew members. One might assume they would try to complete the mission without a hitch, yet Mission Control repeatedly reprimanded them for violating work-rest protocols – they spent all their free time repairing the solar telescope and filming a documentary! It became the first documentary filmed directly in space, depicting the commissioning of the solar telescope.
The cosmonauts served as screenwriters, directors, sound engineers, and lighting technicians. Only a few close-up shots were filmed on Earth.
At the festival, the film will be presented by Olga Gubareva, daughter of Alexei Alexandrovich Gubarev, Soviet cosmonaut and twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
The Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival is held with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Government and Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Kaluga Region. Festival partners include State Corporation "Roscosmos," Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center Research Institute, the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, and other public and commercial organizations.
The festival’s key media partner is TASS, supported by media partnerships from Roscosmos Media and TRK "Nika."
From April 12 to 16, guests will enjoy free screenings of feature, documentary, animated, and full-dome films for planetariums, along with lectures by scientists, masterclasses, theatrical performances, meetings with cosmonauts, writers, and filmmakers, as well as special presentations from festival partners. Registration for film screenings and other events of the Tsiolkovsky Festival will open on April 1 on the official festival website.
The festival traditionally celebrates cinematic space anniversaries. For this purpose, the program includes retrospectives – classic films that deserve to be remembered in the era of computer graphics. The curator of the retrospective section is film scholar, director, and producer Nikolay Mayorov.
Five films have been included in the retrospective program of the VI Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival:
“Roll Call” – 60th Anniversary
Director: Daniil Khrabrovitsky
A Soviet black-and-white feature film. Multifaceted like a novel, it is built on four interwoven stories. Present-day events alternate with memories from twenty years earlier. The narrative is united by the character of General Zhuravlyov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and now one of the leading designers of space rockets. The stories he recalls are largely based on real events.
“Luna” – 60th Anniversary
Director: Pavel Klushantsev
The first part of this film is a science documentary that showcases the most recent (as of the mid-1960s) scientific achievements in lunar exploration. Scientists discuss hypotheses about the origins of lunar seas, the moon’s surface temperature, and the presumed properties of lunar soil. The second part is science fiction, depicting a near future in which humans begin to explore and settle the Moon – from the first hypothetical mission to lunar cities and laboratories.
The film received the Golden Seal of the City of Trieste at the 4th International Science Fiction Film Festival (Italy, 1966).
“I See the Earth!” – 55th Anniversary
Director: Pavel Klushantsev
A science documentary focused on the study of our planet from spacecraft. The film remains relevant even today. It clearly and vividly explains complex ideas using visual sequences and animated diagrams.
“The Orion Loop” – 45th Anniversary
Director: Vasily Levin
In the depths of space, a mysterious energy cluster heading toward Earth is discovered. An expedition of humans and cyborgs is sent to intercept the “Orion Loop,” as the phenomenon is called. Upon arrival, they encounter an alien civilization that warns of a grave threat to Earth – “the glass disease.” The aliens attempt to save humanity by creating an energy barrier around the planet (the “Orion Loop”). However, understanding between the two civilizations proves to be a difficult path.
The film’s consultants were Soviet cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Vitaly Sevastyanov. Leonov also co-wrote the screenplay.
At the festival, the film will be presented by Oksana Leonova, daughter of Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov, USSR Cosmonaut No. 11 and the first person in the world to walk in open space, twice named Hero of the Soviet Union.
“Mission in Orbit” – 50th Anniversary of the Flight and the Film
The space expedition aboard the long-duration orbital station Salyut-4 with Alexei Gubarev and Georgy Grechko (Zenit cameras, Soyuz-17) lasted 29 days, from January 11 to February 9, 1975.
It was the first spaceflight for both cosmonauts. For years, they had served as backup crew members. One might assume they would try to complete the mission without a hitch, yet Mission Control repeatedly reprimanded them for violating work-rest protocols – they spent all their free time repairing the solar telescope and filming a documentary! It became the first documentary filmed directly in space, depicting the commissioning of the solar telescope.
The cosmonauts served as screenwriters, directors, sound engineers, and lighting technicians. Only a few close-up shots were filmed on Earth.
At the festival, the film will be presented by Olga Gubareva, daughter of Alexei Alexandrovich Gubarev, Soviet cosmonaut and twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
The Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival is held with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Government and Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Kaluga Region. Festival partners include State Corporation "Roscosmos," Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center Research Institute, the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, and other public and commercial organizations.
The festival’s key media partner is TASS, supported by media partnerships from Roscosmos Media and TRK "Nika."