HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

By Ziga VIRC

TRANSILVANIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - as FEST

Science-fiction - Completed 2016

The cold war, the space race, and NASA’s moon landing are landmark events that defined an era. But they are also fodder for conspiracy theories. This intriguing docu-fiction explores the myth of the secret multi-billion-dollar deal behind America’s purchase of Yugoslavia’s clandestine space program.

Festivals
& Awards

Karlovy Vary IFF 2016
East of the West - Competition
Zurich FF 2016
International Documentary Film Competition
BFI London FF 2016
Laugh
Tribeca FF 2016
Viewpoints
    • Year of production
    • 2016
    • Genres
    • Science-fiction, Documentary
    • Countries
    • SLOVENIA, CROATIA, GERMANY, CZECH REPUBLIC, QATAR
    • Languages
    • CROATIAN, ENGLISH, SERBIAN, SLOVENIAN
    • Duration
    • 88 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Ziga VIRC
    • Writer(s)
    • Žiga VIRC, Bostjan VIRC
    • Producer(s)
    • Boštjan VIRC (STUDIO VIRC), Siniša JURIČIĆ (NUKLEUS FILM), Ingmar TROST (SUTOR KOLONKO FILMPRODUKTION)
    • Synopsis
    • Cold War-era international intrigue, declassified top-secret documents, and a clandestine deal between John F. Kennedy and Yugoslavia’s president Josip Tito are just the tip of the iceberg in this absorbing docu-fiction. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, "Houston, We Have a Problem!" explores the myth behind the origins of America’s race to be the first country to send a man to the moon, and a supposed multi-billion-dollar deal involving America’s purchase of Yugoslavia’s space program in the early 1960s. Deftly combining archival footage with modern-day interviews with philosopher Slavoj Žižek and some of the key figures in the film’s investigation—including a former Yugoslavian space engineer, an American historian, and a retired Yugoslav People’s Army general—"Houston, We Have a Problem!" is a fascinating meta-examination of Cold War foreign diplomacy and myth-building, and the lies, manipulation, and dirty games that go into the construction of a national identity.
      Myth or reality? It's up to you to decide.