Jeanne C. Finley’s Journeys Beyond the Cosmodrome (2019, 53 min.) is a riveting portrait of a remote Eurasian culture as revealed through the fantasies and fears of its adolescents. On the vast Kazakhstan steppes, nine 16-year- olds prepare to graduate from the Akkol orphanage. Rockets launched from the nearby Cosmodrome inspire their dreams as they write about and perform imagined future-selves. Guided by the nomadic spirit and natural beauty of the steppes, each explores questions of time and truth in relation to the challenging reality of their lives. Finley, a highly accomplished narrative and documentary video artist, seamlessly interweaves traditional Kazakh culture, global popular iconography, space travel, and individual performances to create a compelling vision of the teens’ journeys into an uncertain adulthood.
In person: Jeanne C. Finley