Houston, We Have a Problem!

Houston, We Have a Problem! (2016)

Yugoslav Space Program: Myth Or Reality?

The cold war, the space race, and NASA’s moon landing are landmark events that defined an era. But they are also fodder for conspiracy theories. In Houston, We Have a Problem! filmmaker Žiga Virc adds new material to the discussion on both fronts. This intriguing docu-fiction explores the myth of the secret multi-billion-dollar deal behind America’s purchase of Yugoslavia’s clandestine space program in the early 1960s.

Date of release
2016-05-05
TMDB
7.7 / 10 (39)
Runtime
1h 28m
Genres
Documentary
Director
Žiga Virc

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

Houston, We Have a Problem! is a 2016 internationally co-produced docufiction-mockumentary film by Slovenian director Žiga Virc. The film explores the myth of the secret multibillion-dollar deal behind the United States' purchase of Yugoslavia's clandestine space program in the early 1960s. It is based and inspired by numerous real events and facts, in the sense that it is intended as an allegory to the Cold War.

Production

It is international co-production by Studio Virc (Slovenia), Nukleus Film (Croatia) and Sutor Kolonko (Germany), backed by HBO Europe, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Radiotelevizija Slovenija and the Doha Film Institute. It is subsidized by Slovenian Film Centre, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Viba Film Studio, MEDIA Creative Europe, Eurimages and the Doha Film Institute. It's HBOs first co-production in the Adriatic region.

According to the director Žiga Virc, the intention of the film was to "tell the symbolic story of the rise and fall of Yugoslavia", as well inviting the viewer to decide what is real and what fiction. In the film are mixed real archive footage with artful fabrication, and conspiracy theory about the Yugoslav space program.

The film producer and co-writer Boštjan Virc noted that they are aware "not everyone will understand the nature of the film". The point is the power of deception - the people believed a small production film with a hint, while on the other hand big news productions, companies, governments have no hints that something is wrong in the picture, and people take it for granted.

The myth became popular in January 2012 when the filmmakers Žiga and Boštjan uploaded a short video clip on YouTube, which received in excess of one million views, as well as extensive media attention including by Smithsonian Institution.

The myth is based on several facts: the work The Problem of Space Travel by Herman Potočnik (1892–1929) influenced German, American and Soviet scientists, but it is speculated that U.S. agents confiscated his surviving unpublished notes. In the early 1960s the financial support from the U.S. was larger than NASA's annual budgets, and after Dwight D. Eisenhower the policy was continued by Kennedy.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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