The Tribeca Festival is underway in New York City, bringing an incredibly wide variety of projects to the big screen. While many of those projects have the singular purpose of entertaining their audience, others serve a much bigger purpose.
From National Geographic Documentary Films comes The Space Race, an emotive and educational exploration of the experiences of the first Black astronauts. Featuring candid interviews from Ed Dwight, Guion Bluford, Charles Bolden, and Victor Glover, the documentary spotlights the oft-omitted racial injustice narratives and present-day realities of these pioneers.
From start to finish, The Space Race has a sense of importance and weight to it that many documentaries do not. The doc wastes no time diving into an omitted and nearly forgotten history that is finally getting a chance to be in the spotlight. Hearing from some of these astronauts, particularly Ed Dwight, gives this film a measure of gravitas that draws the audience in and holds them.
There is also a nice balance to this new film. Obviously, this history played, or at least would have played, a crucial role in the civil right movement and that is a major focus of the documentary. However, for those who are simply interested in space exploration and are hoping to learn about some of these heroes and what they’ve accomplished, there is plenty of that featured here too.
In addition to the general heaviness of the doc and the seriousness of the story it tells, there are also several incredibly emotional moments throughout. As you can imagine given the history of space exploration, there are a number of tragedies explored in this film. Some of those tragedies are very famous, while others were sadly swept under the rug. This film certainly pulls at the heartstrings on more than one occasion.
With all of that said, obviously this is not exactly a lighthearted, easy watch. However, there are plenty of funny and entertaining moments throughout the film as well. On top of being brilliant heroes, these astronauts really know how to make people smile. Having experienced the film in a packed theater, I can say from experience this film is going to get at least a few laughs. And of course, it’s an incredibly inspirational story that could inspire the next generation of astronauts as well.
Overall, The Space Race is an important, entertaining and inspirational new documentary. The interviews with these heroic astronauts are powerful and their stories even more so. Be prepared for a very emotional experience as you sit down to watch this new National Geographic project as it packs a heaviness from start to finish and sprinkles in some tear-jerking moments throughout. Still, this doc is also fun and even laugh-out-loud funny in moments and packs plenty of interesting stories and information for those who are interested in space exploration and its history. With any luck, this film will open the door for more of that omitted history to be shared and for future generations of astronauts to go into space.
Be sure to check out more of our coverage from this year’s Tribeca Festival.