Sea of Tranquility — production still

Sea of Tranquility

Im Meer der Stille

Short Film · 2019 · Experimental, Sci-Fi · 20 min

After setting foot on the moon's surface, an astronaut returns to Earth and waits in the wilderness to be rescued. But as the rescue takes longer than expected, she has time to process her experiences and delve into her memories. Surrounded by a world teeming with life, she embarks on a transcendent journey that brings her into connection with the Earth, the Moon, and herself.

Cast

  • Odine Johne

Crew

  • Director Simon Schneider
  • Writer Simon Schneider
  • Producer Mascha Albl
  • Cinematographer Johannes Schmülling
  • Casting Director Sophie Molitoris
  • Production Designer Jessica Kaczmarek
  • Editor Tim Egner

Twelve people in the history of humanity have left Earth and set foot on the Moon. All of them describe the same experience. Seeing that small blue dot rise up in the vacuum of space evoked in each of them a transcendent sense of wholeness and interconnectedness. Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell said, "We had to go to the Moon to discover Earth." This shift in perspective — the so-called Overview Effect — is at the heart of the narrative. Not the journey itself, but the moment that follows. The arrival. The moment when the impressions of space settle in the mind like swirling dust.

What happens to a person who, after such a journey, waits alone in the wilderness for rescue? Who suddenly feels their full body weight again, hears the wind, smells the earth, and sees the sun setting over the forest? The silence of space echoes in the living nature of Earth. This juxtaposition creates a visceral sense of the magnitude of such a journey and of the improbable preciousness of a world full of life.