Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE SPACE RACE[Tribeca Festival 2023 - Virtual]
The approach of "The Space Race" is the undeniable metaphor of the title itself in that it explores the notions of race within the representation of the American astronaut program. It is an interesting progression on the notion of self and resilience when reaction could have been a worse outcome considering the climate of the nation of America at certain points in its recent history . Seeing some of the accomplishments of today's black astronauts and the strife and challenge they face just as human beings without having to endure certain prejudices of others or expectations is an interesting task only understood by those who live it. That is why starting at the beginning with a test pilot like Ed Dwight who should have been a Mercury astronuat is interesting and vivid in understanding the optics both inward and outward. The integration of a later pilot in a secret air force program again shows the irony and two-faced nature of what society at one point or another deems correct.
Of course as this progresses, it reflects where life and history intersect. The assassination of JFK who had supported placing a black man in the astronaut program for Apollo was cut short and the politics of the men after took over. Charles Bolden was on Challenger when it exploded. Again another defining point in history. Hearing from certain ones who led the way up to Victor Glover, who was in orbit during the pandemic and seeing how the George Floyd incident affected him (while he still was a soldier who required a certain decorum) is really dynamic, especially later when he does a zoom with Dwight and Jessica Watkins who was on the ISS at the time. Glover will also be the lead on the Artemis II mission to the moon so the idea has come full circle. But as with "Hidden Figures", understanding the history (and especially talking to those who lived it who can and should speak to it) is the only way to understand where it is, how it has evolved and how it still needs to grow. B
By Tim Wassberg
