Sergio and Sergei

In 1991, as the Soviet Union comes apart, Cuba enters the hardest economic crisis in its history. Sergio, who teaches Marxism in Havana, can no longer support his family. At the same time the Soviet cosmonaut Sergei is stranded on the Mir space station; the country that was supposed to bring him home no longer exists. The two share one interest: amateur radio. They find each other by signal and hold on to each other. Ernesto Daranas's film takes its inspiration from Sergei Krikalev, who stayed on Mir from 1991 into 1992 and, coming back to a country he could not find, was called the last Soviet citizen. The deprivation of the teacher in Cuba and the loneliness of the man in orbit fit inside the same frame. Ron Perlman plays the American who helps them increase the reach of their radio. Comedy and history do not spoil each other here.