On August 5, the documentary film “Baikonur. Invasion” directed by Angel Angelov.
The tape tells about two extreme explorers from Ukraine – Dmytro Gromov and Angel Angelov, who go on a dangerous expedition. They have to cross 50 kilometers of wild desert to get to the Baikonur Cosmodrome and its preserved hangars, which house the Soviet Buran and Burya space shuttles. The guys risked going to prison for a term of 8 to 20 years if they were caught by the Russian military, because Russian legislation is in effect at the cosmodrome. But the thrill of discovery overshadowed the fear of being exposed, and the study of a closed object turned into self-knowledge.
The world premiere of the film “Baikonur. Invasion” took place in October 2020 as part of the 4th Kharkiv MeetDocs film festival. The tape entered the National Competition of feature-length documentary films and received the grand prize of audience sympathy, setting a record of viewings.
The international premiere of the film took place on April 10, 2021 at the XIV International Documentary Film Festival “Artdocfest”, where the film participated in the main competition of the film festival and received “Special Mention of the Jury – For an ambitious idea, a risky decision and a brilliant result”.
In an interview for CutInsight, the main character of the film, Dmytro Gromov, talked about how the idea to get to the legendary Baikonur Cosmodrome came about and what were the biggest challenges during the expedition, as well as why this trip had to be turned into a documentary.
Now the topic of space is extremely relevant. We live in the age of a new space race, where multimillionaire businessmen Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are competing to be the first to conquer space, and tourist space flights have already become a reality. It is symbolic that the film “Baikonur. “Invasion” is coming to the big screens right now and tells about the place where space exploration actually began. You and Angel Angelov have long been engaged in extreme urban studies as part of the Insiders project. How did you get the idea that there is such an object as the Baikonur Cosmodrome and you need to get there?
We saw information on the Internet – that our like-minded people from a closed club got information about Baikonur and visited there semi-legally, as their relatives worked there. We immediately caught fire and it became, in fact, our dream. About a year later, we went there ourselves.
When did you start practicing urban exploration and how did you come to this hobby as a person?
Since I was a child, I liked to climb into garages, basements and similar places. It was very interesting to me. In 2004, during the school period, it took a more planned direction. We found our first passages underground and started exploring different places. At that time, the Internet was not yet widely used, at least for me, and I did not even know about the existence of such terms as “diggers” and “stalkers”. I was very lucky in this regard – we just climbed for ourselves for our own interest. It wasn’t until years passed that it became clear that there was a whole movement that was doing this. And we are not alone, we have like-minded people. That’s why it’s all been with me since deep childhood.
How did you prepare for the expedition to Kazakhstan and where did you get life hacks to protect yourself and do everything successfully?
We are a collection of all life hacks in ourselves! (Laughs) We have been engaged in this business for half our lives, and penetration into closed areas is our specialty. We studied the satellite map of the Baikonur territory well and that was practically enough. Then we oriented ourselves on the spot.
Some time has already passed since your adventure and trip to Baikonur took place. Did this place live up to your expectations?
In general, we were pleasantly surprised. In person, everything seemed even more exciting than in the picture. Moreover, there was not much information about this place on the Internet. Only saw a couple of photos. We were very impressed.
In the film “Baikonur. Invasion” you talk a lot about how such expeditions affect the worldview and psyche of a person. I especially liked the moment when you said that the fractured bone that has fused is the strongest part of the human body. Did you somehow prepare yourself for this trip on an emotional and psychological level?
Emotionally, we did not prepare at all, but it was probably worth doing. Because in reality everything was much more complicated than we imagined. First of all, it’s insanely hot, +47 degrees, with a very limited supply of water — and that made us a little bit sloppy. Emotionally, especially the second part of the expedition took place at high temperatures. But we are shot sparrows, and we have been on many expeditions, so we were prepared for such an experience. This is our professional activity and we are here like a fish in water.
If you could go back in time, would you change anything about your approach to this expedition?
No, I would definitely leave everything as it is. Everything went perfectly. And those unforeseen difficulties that arose created the drama of this expedition – for us, as living people, and for the filmed material. After all, the pitfalls are essentially the most interesting. When all
predictable, clear, simple and prosaic – there is no interest or extremism in it. The whole thrill is in what happens out of the blue.
This is felt in the film, when you understand that in front of you is the hero and his pure experiences, which he broadcasts to the viewer on all levels.
I was told that you had a legend in case you were suddenly caught by the military – as if you were filming an animal documentary in the desert. It’s true?
So. We had a legend, supported by a document from a film studio, which explained that we were making a documentary about the life of camels. If we were caught, we would say that we were there by accident and that we are interested in camels, not some shuttles. But it is good that this legend did not come in handy.
“Baikonur. “Invasion” is a rather unusual documentary format, where the element of action and tension is constantly present, as in a real thriller. What is your relationship to the documentary genre?
I have been engaged in my activity for half my life and I realized that it can be broadcast to people precisely in the format of a documentary film, because it is documentary shooting that can convey the emotion that really happens during the expedition. No actor in a feature film will act like that. For this reason, we came to the documentary film format.
In the expedition, you are in an incredible adventure, as if you are playing some crazy computer game or virtual reality, but it is happening in reality. Documenting it is the most direct way to share your emotions with people.
Speaking of games. So that future viewers could experience all the excitement, you created an interactive game about a trip to Baikonur on the film’s website.
Yes, I created this quiz in one sitting. It is quite simple and you can go through it on an intuitive level. These are easy questions created in a humorous style that anyone can pass.
Probably, expeditions are like a drug. Once you have tried it, you want to continue to explore something and penetrate somewhere. Is your Insiders project planning to conquer new points?
Of course, we have certain plans, but we are not disclosing them yet. I will only say that it is not in Ukraine, because here we have already filmed everything we wanted.
Author: Olga Kovtun