Aniara (2018)

A spaceship carrying settlers to Mars is knocked off course, causing the consumption-obsessed passengers to consider their place in the universe.

Directors:

Pella Kagerman (as Pella Kågerman), Hugo Lilja

Writers:

Pella Kagerman (as Pella Kågerman), Hugo Lilja

Stars:

Emelie Jonsson, Bianca Cruzeiro, Arvin Kananian

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emelie Jonsson	...	Mr
Bianca Cruzeiro	...	Isagel
Arvin Kananian	...	Chefone
Anneli Martini	...	The Astronomer
Jennie Silfverhjelm	...	Libidel
Emma Broomé	...	Chebeba
Jamil Drissi	...	The Intendent
Leon Jiber	...	Daisi Doody
Peter Carlberg	...	Chief Engineer
Juan Rodríguez	...	The man from Gond
David Nzinga	...	Mima host
Dakota Trancher Williams	...	Tivo
Otis Castillo Ålhed	...	Isagel's younger child
Dante Westergårdh	...	Isagel's younger child
Elin Lilleman Eriksson	...	Yaal

Storyline

Aniara is the story of one of the many spaceships used for transporting Earth's population to their new home-planet Mars. But just as Aniara leaves the ruined Earth, she collides with an asteroid and is knocked off her course. Aniara's passengers slowly realize that they'll never be able to return; they will continue onwards through an empty and cold universe forever. The Swedish Nobel prize winner Harry Martinsson wrote Aniara in 1956. The novel has been translated into a number of different languages, including danish, finnish, english, russian, czech, arabic, japanese and most recently chinese. It has been staged as opera and several theatrical productions, but has never before been filmed. In Aniara's inexorable journey towards destruction there is a warning that cannot be emphasized enough. There's only one Earth. We have only one life. So, we have to take responsibility for our actions and constantly guard our environment and our humanity. If we don't, Earth will soon be a ...

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

Sweden Denmark

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

7 September 2018 (Canada)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Meta Film Stockholm,Meta Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film premiered at TIFF (Toronto international Film Festival) in Canada in September 2018.

User Reviews

Spaceship Accelerating to Mars; Human Nature takes Control

"There is protection against almost everything, against fire and damage through storm and cold, but there is no protection against humanity," said Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson, upon whose poem this film is based. On a spaceship accelerating to Mars from the ruined earth, people shop, eat and - with the help of virtual reality - dream as they always have done. When the ship veers off course, crew leaders try to keep the passengers from learning the truth. Power struggles ensue, fantasies and fears displace reality, and the ship starts to resemble (gasp!) a mini city on earth. Caught in the middle of the chaos and the factions is a cheerful woman who tries to make the best of the unfortunate circumstances. If only her companions would let her.

Poignant and relevant to contemporary culture, directors Kagerman and Lilja adapt the poem remarkably well to the screen. The film is wonderful for what it says about human nature. The salient moral is that technology is not fail safe, and only as good as the powers who wield it. The film is hampered by a skimpy budget, shaky camera work and bad transitions, but overall the acting is believable, and it is a fascinating glimpse at the human talent for avoiding reality, for better or worse, in whatever sphere we happen to occupy. World premiere seen at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.