SXSW

Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian, meets her two doppelgängers, as well as top NASA scientists, neuroscientists, space mission specialists, and trauma specialists in a feature film that asks:

CAN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PAST HELP US IMAGINE NEW FUTURES IN SPACE?

With private and public developments in the field of space exploration, the space industry is welcoming new actors from the business sector. Unfortunately, while this allows for further democratised access to space, it remains accessible only to a select few… Current missions seem to offer a limited approach to future visions in space, with concepts such as extraction, ‘colonisation’, capitalisation and a repetition of historical actions on Earth being proposed as the future of humanity in space.

Doppelgängers3 is not a conventional science documentary about a speculative plan for the moon. It asks: what if we make a plan for the moon that includes voices from the periphery, and nations that have known the perils of a colonialist mindset first-hand? In this film, three stories unite distinct locations in the formulation of a utopian community. At the same time, we gain unique access to a new analogue space training site run by Astroland Interplanetary Agency: a deep cave in Spain where astronauts are trained to live in close quarters and to explore the unpredictable and the unknown.

Ben Hayoun-Stépanian Ph.D, a London-based designer of experiences and filmmaker of Armenian and Algerian descent, believes that there is no such thing as linear storytelling when it comes to the borders on Earth and potential futures in extraterrestrial lands. Indeed, her own family’s experience is one of constant movement and displacement. This film creatively portrays non-linear narratives, the latest developments in quantum physics and historical arcs of immigration and colonisation. 

In the film, Nelly is not on her own. She collaborates with her two doppelgängers — Lucia Kagramanyan, a DJ from Yerevan, and Myriam Amroun, a cultural producer and curator from Algiers — to interview scientists, innovators and forward thinkers. They reflect on histories of civilisation, diasporas, and the movement of populations from territories to territories, land to sea, land to the sun, water to land; and Earth to the Moon. Together, they prepare for a new utopian moon society. 

At the heart of Doppelgängers3 is plurality, multiverses and the understanding that belonging doesn’t come in one shape and form. This original film acts as a template for new politics and transnational thinking.