Elements I am long interested in: Ham radios and shortwave radio - I had a shortwave radio in the 70's growing up. Before the Internet ham radios were the Internet Space - I am the son of a NASA engineer that worked on the IU on the Saturn V. I grew up listening to the sound of the F-1 engines being tested. The end of Communism - the largest change in my life. it is hard for those who do not remember it how it seemed impossible the Cold War would end, and then in a flash it did. There are really only 2 Stalinist states left: Cuba and North Korea.

One VERY minor spoiler at the end of this review.

Each of the interesting characters work through these changes in their own way. It dables in Apollo Conspiracy nonsense but it does not detract from the tale. The actors are likable, and the circumstances of both Sergio's and Serguei's lives are fascinating. Serguei was literally a man without a country for a while: he entered space as a member of the USSR, he landed as a member of the Russian Federation. One element of the tale is Serguei's ingenuity in fixing his craft. The Russian space program was very good at this, in part because they had to be, but that doesn't make the ingenuity any less real.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of the movie is Sergio's encounters with the Cuban police. Their interference is presented as almost comical, but it is no less real. One wonders, of course, about what the filmmaker was and was not allowed to say. It is possible that the events depicted are old enough that the censors say no need to change anything. In any event the politics of the film are never heavy handed enough to interfere with the story.

The special effects are quite good. This is not, say gravity, but they special effects are certainly better than seen say in the original Star Trek.

An irony alert: Serguei returned to space in 1992: on the US Space Shuttle.

The world turned upside down for many countries as well as people when the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev on the Mir space station was literally left to drift in space. Cuba shared his fate in more ways than one. As chance would have it, and based on real events, an amateur radio operator in Havana reaches the cosmonaut. Having spent some time in the country, Sergei "speaks Cuban" and the two marginalized men discover they have much in common. At first the friendship is based purely on the pleasure of talking to a stranger, but soon it morphs into much more. As Sergei and Sergio risk censorship and worse for speaking up about their respective plights, they realize the worth of having friends in high, low and different places.

Gazing upon a meteor shower from above earth's atmosphere, listening to a father and daughter talk about the stars and more, I was delighted by the film's many perspective shifts, contrasts, and cool little tech and art additions. Different genres including politics, humor, fantasy, drama and documentary, are combined in an eclectic and satisfying way. The romance, if there is intended to be one, is clunky and could, along with other aspects of the film, have been better developed, yet altogether the film is a whimsical, appealing and enchanting mediation about the benefits of reaching out to strangers. Seen at the Miami Film Festival.

Use an extraordinary imagination, this film from Ernesto Darana showed that the human being despite uncountable differences can help each other when need it. Using an impossible situation a Cuban a Russian ( communist) and American, former member of Nasa are tangled in an extreme situation. Every character have their own personal-social- political problems which can affect the other, but all of them find the way to work together for the best solution of the major problem. I found the photography , the special effects amazing, considering that the film is Cuban. I am still surprise, waiting to get it in the market in zone 1 to buy it. I love the previous work of Ernesto Darana. All the crew and staff related to the film deserve the recognition of the film system, this film is marvelous. Great Job!!!