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The Red Stuff

Director: Leo de Boer
Documentary portrays several retired cosmonauts, who look back on their heroic deeds that were used almost exclusively as Russian propaganda.
In the late fifties, several pilots were selected for a dangerous and secret mission: the first space flight. The Red Stuff - a play on the American counterpart The Right Stuff - portrays several early cosmonauts who have now retired. In their own surroundings, they look back on their heroic deeds that were used almost exclusively as Russian propaganda. They explain how they were prepared and kept ignorant. After the first unmanned satellite was launched in 1957 and then one with the dog Layka was shot into space, on 13 April 1961 the first cosmonaut, Yuri Gargarin, was put into an orbit around the earth. In '62 three men were launched in a capsule that was much too small. The interviews are juxtaposed with unique archive footage, poems and propaganda songs. These illustrate the stories in a film about camaraderie, guilt and pride.

Credits

Director
Executive producer
Production company
Pieter van Huystee Film & TV
TV company
VPRO TV
Distributor NL
Public Film
Still
Title: The Red Stuff
Year: 1999
Duration : 1 hour, 18 minutes
Type: Long Documentary
Edition: NFF 2000

NFF Archive

You are now in the NFF Archive. The archive contains contains information on film, TV and interactive productions that were screened at past festival editions. The NFF does not dispose of this material. For this, please contact the producer, distributor or broadcaster. Sometimes, older films can also be found at the Eye Film Museum or the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.