Shifting Baselines – Hot Docs 2025
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April 24 to May 4, 2025
FILM FESTIVAL
Hot Docs
Hot Docs 2025
PROGRAMME
Canadian Spectrum Competition
A new space race begins in a small Texan town in Shifting Baselines. At Spacebase, just outside of the Texan town of Boca Chica, located on the Mexican border, companies such as Space X and Starlink are developing the next generation of rockets and satellites. The rocket tests attract casual observers and independent scientists, who dream of a future for humanity in the stars. However, there is also an environmental impact from the work done by these companies.
Shifting Baselines Synopsis
Shifting Baselines is a documentary directed by Julien Elie about the new space race that has risen by private companies, most notably Elon Musk’s Space X, developing rockets for the next generation of space exploration, with Mars being the current goal. While some dream of humanity becoming an interplanetary species, others are more concerned with the environmental impact, such as overcrowding the Earth’s orbit with satellites and rocket debris landing in protected conservation areas (or even farmland in Saskatchewan).
My Thoughts on Shifting Baselines
Shifting Baselines is shot in a very stark black and white, which gives the documentary a 1950s science fiction feel at times. Filmed in the early days of Space X when areas such as Spacebase and Rocket Ranch were relatively unknown to the general public, the film delves into the busloads of tourists that would show up in the area to watch the rocket tests, which would often end in an explosion, consequently polluting the surrounding area with rocket fuel and debris. However, more interesting is the criticisms involving a lack of regulations involving space travel, particularly now that private companies have overtaken NASA in the development of the next generation of rockets and satellites. As such, Shifting Baselines should get you thinking about our future in the stars.
