Pavlo Ostrikov’s feature debut U ARE THE UNIVERSE, which made its world premiere at TIFF in the Discovery Section, is set aboard a dilapidated spacecraft disposing of Earth’s nuclear waste. When an explosion nullifies the Earth, the crewman Andriy believes he is the only human left alive, his sole company a robot named Maksym, until his radio picks up another sign of life—a French scientist also in orbit. U ARE THE UNIVERSE is a Ukrainian production that was completed during the war; multiple actors and crew members are serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The film recently won the top honor, the Golden Octopus, at the Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg. It is set to be released in theaters in Ukraine in spring 2025. We sat down with Ostrikov at TIFF to talk about the film’s production, his inspiration, and its themes.
Science & Film: How did you arrive at the premise of the film: the idea of nuclear waste disposal in space?
Pavlo Ostrikov: I came up with this idea when I was at university, and we had to create a short play. I was thinking about, what if the Earth exploded and someone was left in space? I was playing Andriy, and it was a goofy story, like a sitcom. It was this idea that led to this film. I was curious about this premise. I didn't think about cinema at that time, but after I started filmmaking, I came back to this idea and wanted to find some Ukrainian way into this story, and that's why I came up with this company that transfers nuclear waste. Nuclear waste is a big problem for all of Earth, and that's why I thought that maybe it's a good idea to transport nuclear waste from the Earth to space.
S&F: It reminds me of some of the stories we heard during COVID about the whole Earth being impacted by something, and how that affects those in orbit.
PO: I need to say that this film took me seven years to finish, and before COVID, I was thinking about isolation and loneliness. After COVID started, it was a tragedy for people, of course, but also I was a little bit impressed that I was thinking about this before that.
S&F: Was there anything about your choice to set the film in space, primarily in one location, that was impacted by the current circumstances in Ukraine—the war?
PO: We finished almost all shooting before the full-scale invasion, so we didn't change a lot of the story after the invasion, but we had to somehow finish this movie in the middle of the war. The main character was in the army. He went to the army in the first days of this invasion, also my producer is in the army now, and the voice of the of the robot Maksym is also in the army. So, it was difficult to gather all the crew. When we started the last part of the shooting in 2022 in the autumn, Russia launched a massive rocket attack on Kyiv. It was the period when we wanted to invite the French actress, and it was impossible, because she said that she didn't want to die in Ukraine. It was difficult, and we came up with the idea that it could be a Ukrainian actress for the appearance, but the French voice. It wasn’t the perfect way to manage this problem, but it was one solution.
It was difficult at every stage. I look at my colleagues, they finished their debuts in one or two years, and I'm still in this space. I was in depression before the invasion, and during the invasion it was even more complex for me, for the crew. I said to myself that I wouldn't say anything good about this process, because it was too difficult for me. It's just like a game with destiny. I said, Why me? Why am I still making this movie every year?
S&F: It must be a relief to have it out.
PO: Yeah, of course. I was crying after the premiere in my room. It's like in our movie, we have the sad and funny moments, and we somehow have to live with that and go on planning our lives. It's life in Ukraine, so we need to get used to it.
Courtesy of TIFF
S&F: What was your inspiration for Maksym, the robot character?
PO: I guess many people find it similar to the film MOON where there is this robot, Gerty. But I wanted to change the character of this robot in a funny way. From the start, I knew that I wanted to just have one pilot in this spaceship. That's why I thought of this entertaining robot, because you’re alone on the spaceship, and you need some company, some funny company, but somehow this robot is a disaster for Andriy, because he's doesn't really need some someone on the spaceship and also these this dad jokes from the robot... After I came up with this relationship, everything else was easier for me.
For the set design, we wanted to create a functional design, so he's just like a box, a moving box. And the spaceship also has one function, to transport nuclear waste. It doesn't need to be good or beautiful, and also this spaceship was made in Ukraine, and we're not the first ones in fashion.
S&F: Even though Andriy is so happy when he finds the pink chair!
PO: Yeah, we want to be in fashion.
We haven't seen the perspective of space from Ukraine, which helps me to understand why I’m making a movie about space. I guess it's the first one. There were some films from the Soviet period, but it's like the 60s, it's hard to watch it now. Some sort of STAR TREK, but cheaper and not understandable for the modern audience.
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