By Amanda Moses
What does it mean to be human? Is it compassion or loyalty? Would your fealty to your nation— no matter how far removed you may be from it—dictate your decisions? These are the questions the film I.S.S. invoked during its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 12th.
In a race against time, two sets of scientist crews are orbiting the planet in an International Space Station (I.S.S.) attempting to research ways toward the betterment of humanity. But once tensions arise on Earth, both groups receive orders from their command centers to take control of the space station at any cost.
The cast and creators of I.S.S. graced the film’s red-carpet premiere at the SVA Theatre last month to show their support and discuss the cold harshness of space in this sci-fi thriller.
For Director and writer Gabriela Cowperthwaite the film explores a person’s ability to question orders that they disagree with as well as allowing an international crisis to dictate how to treat people.
“It was a script that I think just speaks to kind of when a system is asking you to do something, but you yourself might have questions about what it is that you’re being asked to do and retain your humanity. I liked that dichotomy because I think it actually speaks to what we’re going through today,” Cowperthwaite said.
When asked what Cowperthwaite wanted audience members to take from the film, she said to remember that we all come from the same race: the human race.
“I think realizing how interconnected we are, how similar we are, and really trying to keep that shared humanity alive in the backs of our minds when they’re these crazy geopolitical situations. Remember, we’re all people,” Cowperthwaite said.
Lead actress Ariana DeBose, who played host to the Tony’s award show on June 11th (just one day before the I.S.S. premiere), shared her excitement to star in a film that showcases the power dynamics between humans.
“It was a real joy. It was the first thing I got to make that wasn’t a musical. I finished making the Prom and this was my follow up and it’s drastically different. It was a huge challenge for me. Thank God for Gabriela [Cowperthwaite.] She was such an incredible director and held my hand through the entire process and helped me discover parts of my talent that I didn’t know that I had. I didn’t fully understand my access to nuance and then working with these Class-A actors it was an incredible ensemble,” DeBose told the Spring Creek Sun.
For Masha Mashkova, the script and colleagues drew her to her role in the film, which she described as almost play-like with its small cast and intimate setting.
“It felt like a theatrical play; it was only six of us. It was so intimate and suffocating and dangerous, and it was it was very interesting to work on it,” Mashkova said.
Castmate John Gallagher Jr. agreed that the script and cast are what also drew him to the role, especially during 2021 when he first came across the story at a time when he was unable to act due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So that was exciting in and of itself, just the idea of working again after such a drought. And then I read it and I thought it was really unique and interesting, a great premise. I liked how personal and kind of claustrophobic it was,” Gallagher Jr. said.
“How do you cope and take care of each other when maybe your instinct is crying out for you to kind of serve yourself? Which I think we all l grapple with that question. How do we help others and we’re also trying to help ourselves? I think this movie gets to that in a really in a really challenging and profound way,” Gallagher Jr. added.
Photos by Amanda Moses
