Asya Khmelova, Director, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2022, NYU, $100k Feature Film Prize Semi-Finalist

Project Type: Feature

Genre: Dark Comedy

Length: 105 pages

Field of Science: Physics, Engineering

Stage: Development

Synopsis: 

COSMONAUT is a darkly sarcastic comedy set in Solar, a fictional industrial city in Eastern
Europe.

Since childhood, Efim and Dimitri dreamed of becoming space pioneers. Efim, in particular, longed to be a cosmonaut. When he landed a job as an electronics technician at a rocket factory, it felt like the closest he would ever get to his dream.

But dreams don’t always survive reality. The rocket industry shuts down, and the factory is repurposed to manufacture cheap umbrellas. Now, Efim and Dimitri spend their days producing disposable goods in the shadow of their once-lofty ambitions.

Struggling with empty pockets and mounting debts, they hatch absurd money-making schemes, question their friendship, and ultimately reevaluate what truly matters. Meanwhile, Solar transforms around them – roads are repaved, new buildings rise, the city moves on.

Against all odds, Efim and Dimitri finally achieve a small financial breakthrough. To celebrate, they transform an old rocket nose cone into a swimming pool and throw a party for their coworkers – a moment of triumph, however fleeting.

Just as they embrace their strange but joy-filled existence, reality crashes down once more. The first bomb lands in their backyard.