Friday 23 Lifestyle | Features Friday, July 2, 2021

ix decades after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri been revealed by Russian media outlets to part of a geopolitical battle his country is Gagarin became the first human to orbit feature a doctor dispatched urgently to the ISS engaged in with Washington, according to a SEarth, earning a key win in the to save a cosmonaut. Nor has The Call’s recent interview he gave to a Moscow tabloid. Cold War, is again in a space race with budget been disclosed. But it’s no secret that “Cinema was long ago turned into a powerful Washington. This time though travel to space is a costly busi- propaganda tool,” he told popular daily the stakes are somewhat glitzier. ness: one seat on a Soyuz rocket Komsomolskaya Pravda in June. His assess- On October 5, one of Russia’s to the ISS usually costs NASA ment of the role of film comes at a time when most celebrated actresses, 36- tens of millions of dollars. Hinting the relationship between Moscow and year-old is blasting at the film’s aesthetic direction, Washington has frayed to the point of resem- off to the International Space one big name on the credit list is bling the standoff of the Cold War. Station (ISS) with film director Konstantin Ernst, the 60-year-old Rogozin said in the interview that Cruise This picture shows Russian actress Yulia , 38. Their mis- head of the overtly Kremlin- and Liman had initially approached Peresild posing during an interview with AFP sion? Shoot the first film in orbit friendly Channel One television in early 2020 to collaborate on the in Moscow. — AFP photos before the Americans do. If their network. film. But, he said, unnamed “political forces” plan falls into place, the Ernst has stage-managed pressured them to give up on the idea of work- ing space in which to work, particularly for the are expected to beat Mission Impossible star some of the most important moments in ing with the Russians. “I understood after this director, who will also handle the cameras, Tom Cruise and Hollywood director Doug Russia’s recent political history and of that space is big politics,” he told the paper. “It lighting, sound and make-up. Liman, who were first to announce their proj- President Vladimir Putin’s career: military was then that an idea appeared to make the “We will have to film in space what it is not ect together with NASA and Space X, the parades, inaugurations, the opening ceremo- film”. Representatives of Cruise did not possible to shoot on Earth,” she says. Peresild company of billionaire . ny of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. respond to AFP requests for comment. said that unlike many other Soviet children “I really want us to be not only the first but Dmitry Rogozin, the outspoken head of who grew up with Gagarin’s feats looming also the best,” Peresild told AFP, with the clock Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, will also ‘Not a superhero’ large, she never dreamed of going to space. ticking down to the planned October 5 blast-off feature when the credits role in theatres In preparation for this 21st-century space She admits to feeling “afraid” when she was from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in throughout the country. He is not known for race, Peresild has since late May been under- selected for the job from a pool of 3,000 candi- Kazakhstan. The Call-the Russian project’s prominence in the film industry, but rather for going intensive training at the Yuri Gagarin dates. “I am not a superhero,” she told AFP. working title-was announced in September presiding over an agency plagued by stagna- Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City out- She said she had drawn inspiration from chil- last year, four months after the Hollywood proj- tion and corruption-and for publicly sparring side Moscow. When she spoke to AFP, she dren involved in her Galchonok foundation ect. But apart from its grand ambitions, little is with Musk on Twitter. had already managed the centrifuge and that supports young people with disabilities. known about the film. would be getting trained in how to survive in “For them, picking up a spoon is like going to ‘Propaganda tool’ hostile environments for when she plummets space for me.” They “must believe in the Doctor who? For Rogozin, 57, the film is a way to project back to Earth in a Soyuz capsule on October impossible”. — AFP Its plot, which has been kept under wraps stature as Roscosmos loses ground in techno- 17. Still, she is focused on the task at hand. by the crew and Russia’s space agency, has logical advancement to US rivals. But it is also The tiny film set of the ISS will be a challeng- Singer The Weeknd Golden Globes to co-write, reform foreign produce and star language film rule

he embattled Golden Globes on in HBO show Wednesday announced changes that will allow foreign language and animated In this file photo a view of the HFPA Golden Globe T Awards logo is shown. — AFP films to contend for the Hollywood award anadian singer The Weeknd will co- show’s top prizes. Organizers are scrambling films receive the attention they deserve,” said write, produce and star in a fiction to reform the influential but scandal-hit Globes HFPA president Ali Sar in a statement to AFP. Cseries for HBO, the cable channel told after NBC canceled next year’s ceremony “Language will no longer be a barrier to recog- In this file photo The Weeknd performs during the AFP on Wednesday. The series will be titled amid widespread and vocal criticism of the nition as the best.” Comprised of some 90 “The Idol” and portrays the relationship Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. — AFP group’s record on diversity and transparency. journalists who vote for Tinseltown’s second- between a female pop singer and the owner Among the barbs thrown at the Hollywood biggest annual film and television awards, the of a nightclub in Los Angeles, who turns out Foreign Press Association, many awards- HFPA has been under fire for months following to be the leader of a secret cult. The been reported to have a passion for cinema, watchers expressed outrage that the critically widespread allegations of racism, sexism, bul- Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, is to the point of agreeing to play himself in the acclaimed “Minari”-an immigrant tale shot lying and corruption among its ranks. developing the project with Sam Levinson, Safdie brothers’ low-budget film “Uncut mainly in Korean but set in Arkansas-was Last month, the group approved a raft of who notably directed the feature film Gems” (2019), to critical acclaim. Taken from restricted to the foreign language category at reforms to become “more inclusive and “Malcolm & Marie” (2021) for Netflix and “After Hours,” the track “Blinding Lights” was this year’s show. diverse” by an “overwhelming” margin, hoping “Another Happy Day” (2011), which won an the most listened to song on Spotify in 2020. It was not allowed to compete for the best to draw a line under the negative publicity. But award at the Sundance Film Festival. The track spent 43 weeks in the top five for comedy and best drama prizes, which are the backlash from Hollywood has been fierce, The 31-year-old singer is known for his sales in the United States, shattering the pre- considered the Globes’ biggest accolades. with A-listers such as Scarlett Johansson and very cinematic universe. His latest album, vious record of 27 weeks held by the Neither was “Parasite,” the previous year’s Tom Cruise condemning the changes as too “After Hours,” released in March 2020, was Chainsmokers and Ed Sheeran. — AFP eventual best picture Oscar winner. “As we slow, lacking in specifics and failing to address illustrated by concept videos loaded with ref- reexamined our guidelines this year and lis- some of the industry’s most fundamental erences to well-known feature films, such as tened to the industry, we decided to adopt new grievances. —AFP “After Hours” or “Chinatown.” He has often approaches for future shows ensuring these