Shifting Baselines

"In two generations there will be no human beings alive to describe the skies as they have always existed."

— Alice Gorman, outer-space archeologist

Shifting Baselines charts the myriad new normals developing out of the decision of the world's most notorious billionaire to set their space exploration venture on a once sparsely populated, and environmentally significant, stretch of Texas coastline.

In 2018, SpaceX, the company owned by the richest man on earth, decided to settle in Boca Chica, Texas, setting the town and surrounding ecosytems on a course towards irreversible change. The objective: to send thousands of satellites into orbit and lay the foundations for the conquest of Mars. Formerly scenic, idyllic views are now dominated by the Starships: 50-story sleek space engines. Most of the residents have packed their bags, taking with them their memories of the past. Environmentalists only visit to verify the damage. The village is now a mecca for space-junkies. Taking photos in front of the rockets, they hope to bump into Elon Musk or collect equipment debris. They dream of Mars as an escape from our tedious lives and a planet devastated by war and pollution.

Across the Rio Grande, Mexican shepherds worry about the sudden transformation of this place. In the Carribean Sea, historic fisheries are experiencing rapid depletion due to new sources of pollution coming from Starbase. They fear the race to conquer space will lead to accelerated devastation here on Earth. In the early 70s, the Kessler syndrome speculated that a chain reaction caused by the collision of space debris could destroy all that orbits around the Earth. Once thought to be a highly improbably scenario, today it is the nightmare of many astrophysicists, as new Starlink satellites reshape the night sky. The past, and the world as we knew it, is being erased by hitherto unknown paradigms. Are these new visions of a promising future inspired by science fiction, or simply crazed ambitions leading to our own demise?

In all sorts of ways, our baseline for what is normal is shifting at unprecedented speeds. The term Shifting Baselines was first coined in environmental ecology. It is a concept whereby each new generation perceives the conditions in which they grew up as 'normal' or the 'baseline'. It describes how people's standards for acceptable environmental norms can decline from one generation to the next. The sky we have always known will cease to exist in the short term. Over time, it will disappear even from our collective memories.

A thoughtful meditation on the ways new technologies impact society, Shifting Baselines offers a snapshot in time where excitement around the dawn of a new epoch for humanity clashes against the realities of corporate space exploration, challenging the notion that the best hope for our species is to leave the only home we've ever known.

FILMMAKER'S STATEMENT: "I came across an intriguing newspaper article. It presented the case of a Texan village and its handful of residents struggling against a troublesome invader. In a photo accompanying the text a sleek black rocket rose ominously behind a bungalow. Two months later I flew to Boca Chica convinced that I would find there a subject related to this question of lost territory. I was immediately struck by the beauty of the site, yet a feeling of great anxiety hung in the air. The transformation, taking place before my eyes, was both captivating and extremely troubling.

The struggle of a single village is of limited interest; in a way, the case of Boca Chica is not unique. Its history must be interrupted as the illustration of a planetary phenomenon, that of the destruction of living environments. It is thus, I believe, that its singular aspect gains strength and deserves our attention. In this way, and with its unique position as a dual window form which to observe our impact both on earth and in space, Boca Chica would be the meeting point between the destruction that has happened on Earth, and that which is unfolding in the sky.

This project responds to another long-cherished wish: to make a film of significant scientific discourse. It is my impression that science is increasingly absent from our societies, re-inserting itself but sporadically, as during the recent pandemic; more and more public sentiment towards the very idea of scientific thought ranging from at best apathy, to at worst outright hostility. As filmmakers, science is often little present in our works, except to recall a spectacular, or anecdotal fact, often leaving perhaps too much space for different dubious interpretations and mystifications. With this film I am motivated to give ample voice to the astrophysicists and biologists as they labour at the forefront of the battle for no less than the future of our species."

— Julien Elie

Preview link available upon request. Contact support@videoproject for more information

Shifting Baselines - Documentary Film - Video Project

A Film by Julien Elie

100 minutes

Scene Selection • Closed Captioned

Grades 9 - Adult

Item #: SHB-2085

Observes Boca Chica, TX, home of Space X's Starbase, as the new venture in space exploration threatens irrevocable change to life on Earth.

Starting at $99

Licensing Options

K-12 Classroom, Public Libraries: DVD - $99 K-12, Public Library DVD + Digital File - $149 Colleges, Businesses & Institutions: DVD - $395 Colleges: DVD with Digital Site License - $495 K-12 School District pricing available. Please inquire at [email protected] Community Screenings: Please Complete 'Host a Screening' Form found on top menu bar

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Reviews and Festivals

"[Shifting Baseline's] striking black-and-white cinematography and bold artistic choices draw the viewer into a story that feels both urgent and universal. Balancing power and subtle humor, it transforms the impact of the SpaceX project into a vivid portrait of displacement, border politics, and the cost of progress"

— DOC NYC Jury Statement

"Julien Elie's intelligent, multifaceted documentary Shifting Baselines constructs a vivid mosaic of the romance and the hazards of space exploration... Shifting Baselines shows us examples of habitat loss, declining wildlife populations, light pollution and at least asks us to question whether anyone really understands the consequences of the current investment in satellite technology and the race to colonise new worlds."

— ScreenDaily

"The most visually stunning documentary— or possibly film— we have ever seen. While the documentary centers on SpaceX and the environmental impacts of the rockets destined for Mars, Julien Elie and his team present science through photographic poetry. This documentary uniquely unites these two seemingly disparate disciplines... Remarkable."

— Montage Review

"The film taps into anxieties that have gripped American culture since the Atomic age, and is most compelling in its bemused attraction toward juvenile obsession, apolitical delusion, and doomed escapism."

— International Documentary Association

"Haunting... Shifting Baselines invites us to look beyond the dazzle of innovation from the tech industry with which we are all bombarded daily to the dull, persistent erosion of the real world. It asks us to consider what we are losing in our quest to win the future — as the sky fills up with ghosts."

— Daily Maverick

"Recorded in black and white, with humanity's many shades of grey on display, this observational essay follows an eclectic range of subjects to create a testament to our times."

— Alexander Rogalski, HotDocs

"This fascinating observational film proves a provocative time capsule for the moment: giving a care about the planet really does offer a life or death prospect."

— POV

"Shifting Baselines understands the power of the stories we tell ourselves, not just about the past, but about the future... A haunting and visually striking meditation on the cost of progress, and the narratives we cling to in order to justify it."

— International Cinephile Society

"The sky up there, which seemed infinite, is becoming the frontier of a catastrophic cosmic pollution caused by a neoliberal takeover of space."

— Sergio Fant, Visions Du Réel

"The allure of space is readily apparent in the inky, mysterious frames of Shifting Baselines, but there is no glorification of humanity's heedlessly destructive, expansionist behavior... Elegantly realised doc in urgent step with our existentially anxious times."

— The Film Verdict

"The film unfolds like a vast movement that advances from digression to digression, finding its unity in a sort of poetic narrative that is well conveyed by the visual approach of the exceptional cinematography... At a time when this spaceship is run by a crooked entrepreneur and billionaires are destroying the Earth while waiting to inaugurate drilling on Mars, it is high time to reflect on the future of our planet, and Julien Elie's film magnificently encourages us to do so."

— 24images

"Shifting Baselines is a strong experience, an aesthetic exaggeration that associates one with an amazing wealth of facts and contexts. In the end, one oscillates between unbelieving despair and silent envy of the enthusiasm of others. A true and sustainable space trip on Earth."

— Sennhauser Film Blog

"Hypnotic. Illuminating... Hauntingly beautiful portrait of change, in a tiny Texan town, in a gulf wetland environment, in an age when our species is caught between the inadvertent terraforming of Earth and the intended terraforming of Mars."

— 3 Brothers Film

WINNER

DOKU FEST KOSOVO, Green DOX winner

Blue Planet Future Festival, Hannarae Blue Planet Award

DOC NYC, Kaleidoscope Competition Grand Jury Prize

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