The Space Race

2023

1h 31m

Documentary

Biography

History

List

88%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

82%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

THE SPACE RACE weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden, among many others. In THE SPACE RACE, directors Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Cortés profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight's quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in THE SPACE RACE, turning science fiction into science fact and forever redefining what "the right stuff" looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate and a fresh history to explore.

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Devika Girish

New York Times

For the most part, “The Space Race” doesn’t quite interrogate these tokenizing narratives, leaving the central question unaddressed: Can the glorified achievements of a few result in change for the many?

Feb 14, 2024

Full Review

Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

This is just a fantastic doc that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Feb 13, 2024

Full Review

Brian Lowry

CNN.com

From the title to the execution, this National Geographic presentation has the right stuff.

Feb 12, 2024

Full Review

Erik Childress

Movie Madness Podcast

Even as a student who has been fascinated with and absorbed the space program since seeing The Right Stuff as a kid, this was an eye-opening lens into the whitewashed history that has only recently come into focus.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 19, 2024

Full Review

Sabrina McFarland

Common Sense Media

Documentarians Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Cortés offer an informative film journey about Black aerospace history.

Feb 14, 2024

Full Review

Vikram Murthi

The Daily Beast

While the film broadly achieves its aim of correcting a biased historical record by allowing primary historical actors to control their respective narratives, it falters structurally and tonally by adopting too broad a scope of inquiry.

Feb 12, 2024

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Angelo R

An enjoyable documentary. Learned a lot about a story easily looked over.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/17/24

Full Review

Tom M

A really interesting, unknown story, well told.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/24

Full Review

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Lisa Cortes

Director

Diego Hurtado de Mendoza

Director

Ed Dwight

Self

Guion Bluford

Self

Charles Bolden

Self

Victor Glover

Self

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Synopsis

THE SPACE RACE weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden, among many others. In THE SPACE RACE, directors Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Cortés profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight's quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in THE SPACE RACE, turning science fiction into science fact and forever redefining what "the right stuff" looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate and a fresh history to explore.

Director: Lisa Cortes, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
Producer: Frank Marshall, Leland Melvin, Tony Rosenthal, Carolyn Bernstein
Screenwriter: Mark Monroe
Production Co: The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Diamond Docs, National Geographic, National Geographic Documentary Films
Genre: Documentary, Biography, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 13, 2024
Runtime: 1h 31m

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