“The Challenge,” the first feature film shot in space, premiered in Russian cinemas on Thursday.

The premise of the film relates to a female surgeon who is sent to the International Space Station (ISS) to save an injured cosmonaut.

The surgeon is embodied by 38-year-old Yulia Pereshild, who is considered one of the most charming actresses in Russia.

Russia sent the actress and a director for 12 days to the ISS in October 2021 to shoot scenes in the orbiting laboratory.

The Russian production is the answer to the possibility of the production of a similar film by Hollywood, as it was announced in 2020 by the star of the film “Mission Impossible” Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke highly of the film at a Kremlin gala this month.

“We are the first to shoot a feature film in orbit, on a spacecraft. Once again the first,” he said.

The Soviet Union pioneered space travel – sending the first dog, man and woman into orbit, and the mission of the film crew added to a long list of first successes for the Russian space industry after several setbacks, including failed launches.

Director Klim Shipenko, 39, who was responsible for camera, lighting and sound, brought back to earth 30 hours of footage, 50 minutes of which were used in the final edit.

Source: AFP