In the days leading up to Christmas 1973 three astronauts enacted the first labour strike in outer space. Reconstructed from transcripts in claustrophobic close-up via CCTV system, The Case Against Space is a real time investigation dramatically collapsing embodied historical reenactment and speculative essayistic research—forming a collective testimony on struggle amongst the stars, of fights past, present and those yet to come.

The Case Against Space is an inventive docufiction that reconstructs an early act of resistance concealed within the grand mythology of space exploration. Before they are heroes venturing into the unknown, astronauts are a body of manual laborers whose work is to serve as one of the living monuments of their age. The film reimagines the romantic realm of outer space as a workplace governed by productivity and efficiency, overturning the mythologized image of the astronaut.
Against the science-fiction imagination shaped by the survival narrative of The Martian (2015) and the sublime cosmic spectacle of Gravity (2013), Graeme Arnfield transforms space into a site of labor and control. Drawing on extensive records exchanged between NASA and its astronauts, he reconstructs moments of tension and resistance aboard Skylab. Frontal close-ups reminiscent of 1970s surveillance footage and performances centered on the actors’ bodies turn the space station from a glorious frontier into an enclosed workplace where surveillance and labor converge.
A minor strike in outer space ultimately reveals that even humanity’s imagined future rests upon someone’s labor. Structured as a thought experiment, the film playfully yet incisively overturns the monumental narratives of human civilization, calling forth the history of labor hidden behind the myth of progress.

Around seven years ago, I began investigating an obscure piece of history, ultimately securing over 60,000 pages of NASA transcripts. This vast archive documented every conversation from the Skylab mission, both in space and on the ground. Immersing myself in these records revealed a far clearer picture of the mission. It exposed its original significance while opening space to politically, cinematically, and poetically reconstruct the event today through performance and dramaturgy. Like my previous work, this film blends academic research with embodied feelings, exploring how people in extreme situations navigate their place together.

• ProducerElisabeth DEXTER, Boris GARAVINI, Graeme ARNFIELD
• Screenplay Graeme ARNFIELD
• Cinematography Graeme ARNFIELD, Chiemi SHIMADA
• Edit Graeme ARNFIELD
• Sound Graeme ARNFIELD, Jules JASKO
• Music Graeme ARNFIELD