For All Mankind

Between December 1968 and November 1972, the pioneering days of space travel, nine manned Apollo flights left for the moon. ‘Since then, mankind is able to look at itself from a different perspective’, one of the astronauts says. FOR ALL MANKIND incorporates a selection of NASA footage, provided with a voice-over in which various Apollo crews relate their personal experiences in space. The old footage, transferred to 35mm format, looks gorgeous and has been provided with a score by former Roxy Music star Brian Eno. Compiler Al Reinert has chosen the images with a great sense of detail and drama already apparent in the slow-motion pictures of a sea of flames and props coming loose at the launch. The space travellers meditate on the meaning of time and place and their vulnerability in the universe. There was also room for banter, as demonstrated by an anecdote about the second man on the moon. After a 500-dollar bet he had made before the start, his reaction to Neil Armstrong’s world-famous words was: ‘It may be a small step for Neil, but it’s a big one for an old fellow like me’, followed by a burst of laughter 240,000 miles further down, at ground control.