''Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space'' is a documentary film by Denis Delestrac with a music score by Amon Tobin. The film deals with the issue of space weapons and their politics, featuring interviews with several key United States military personnel, academics such as Noam Chomsky and others, including Martin Sheen. The film won the Best Documentary award at the 2009 Whistler Film Festival and has been selected in a number of international film festivals.

Synopsis

The prospect of Earth being ruled from space is no longer science-fiction. The dream of the original Dr. Strangelove, Wernher von Braun (from Nazi rocket-scientist to NASA director) has survived every

US administration The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to the jurisdiction under which it operates. In general terms, administration can be described as a decision making body. United States In American usage, the term ...

since World War II and is coming to life. Today the technology exists to weaponize space, a massive American industry thrives, and nations are maneuvering for advantage.

Production

Among the challenges faced by the production team was the difficulty to get the authorization to bring a camera inside the Air Force Space Command bases and other US military and government locations. After four months of investigation, the US Department of Defense's public relations office decided to grant Denis Delestrac and his crew the access to the locations they had requested. It is the first time most of the Air Force Space Command bases have been filmed by a civilian crew.

Locations

* Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama * Air Force Space Command's

50th Space Wing The 50th Space Wing was the United States Space Force's space and cyber warfare wing. The 50th Space Wing was assigned to Space Operations Command and headquartered at Schriever Air Force Base. It was activated in 1949 as the 50th Fighter Win ...

, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado *

Kirtland Air Force Base Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy ...

, Albuquerque, New Mexico *

Starfire Optical Range Starfire Optical Range (SOR - Pronounced as an initialism) is a United States Air Force research laboratory on the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its primary duty, according to the official website, is to "develop and demo ...

, Albuquerque, New Mexico *

The Space Foundation The Space Foundation is an American nonprofit organization whose mission is to Space advocacy, advocate for all sectors of the global space industry through space awareness activities, educational programs, and major industry events. It was founded ...

, National Space Symposium, Colorado Springs, Colorado * The White House, Washington DC * US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado * US Air Force Research Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico * US Department of Defense, Arlington, Virginia * United States House of Representatives, Washington DC * White Sands Missile Range, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Interviews

The film features interviews with prominent weaponization of space advocates, space policy analysts, politicians, diplomats, military officials and peace activists. The following individuals were interviewed for the film: * Lieutenant General Franklyn Blaisdell, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force for Air and Space Operations * Doctor Helen Caldicott, Australian physician and anti-nuclear advocate * General Kevin P. Chilton,

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, United States Strategic Command * Professor Noam Chomsky, MIT professor, linguist and political activist * Joseph Cirincione, president, the Ploughshares Fund * Richard DalBello, vice president,

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...

* Everett Dolman, military space strategist * Alain Dupas, European space expert * Craig Eisendrath, former diplomat, US State Department *

Frank Gaffney Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist and the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy. In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked for the federal government in multiple posts, including ...

, Center for Security Policy * Bruce Gagnon, Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space * Bill Gertz, The Washington Times * Karl Grossman, author of "Weapons in Space" * Theresa Hitchens, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research * Gregory Kulacki, Union of Concerned Scientists * Senator

Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl ( ; born April 25, 1942) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013 and again in 2018. A Republican, he held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times, ser ...

* Professor

Howard E. McCurdy Howard E. McCurdy is professor of public affairs in the public administration and policy department at American University. McCurdy is considered an expert on space policy and NASA. In 1998, he was selected to be the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

* Mike Moore, author of "Space Cop" * Roald Sagdeev, former director of the Russian Space Research Institute * Martin Sheen, actor and activist * Isabelle Sourbès-Verger, French National Centre for Scientific Research * Baker Spring, The Heritage Foundation * Steven Staples,

The Rideau Institute The Rideau Institute is a non-profit independent research and advocacy group based in Ottawa. It focuses on foreign policy and defence policy issues. It was founded in January 2007. It is based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Personnel Directors ...

Robert J. Stevens Robert J. Stevens (born 1951), is a retired Chairman#Public corporations, executive chairman of Lockheed Martin. He was the Chairman#Public corporations, chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Lockheed Martin from 2004 until 20 ...

, CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation * Cadet Colton Tuttle, US Air Force Academy * Tim Weiner, The New York Times * Loring Wirbel, Citizens for Peace in Space * Litai Xue,

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Versions

Theatrical version

The 85-minute theatrical version was screened at international film festivals since November 2009 and released in theaters across Canada in June 2010.

ARTE version

A 76-minute version, titled "Pax Americana ou la conquête militaire de l'espace", was created for French-German broadcaster and co-producer ARTE. It was broadcast in March 2010 and was followed by a debate on the weaponization of space including French TV host Annie-Claude Elkaïm with Samuel Black (

Henry L. Stimson Center The Stimson Center, named after American statesman, lawyer, and politician Henry L. Stimson, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that aims to enhance international peace and security through analysis and outreach. The center's stated approach ...

, Washington DC),

Otfried Nassauer Otfried Nassauer (August 20, 1956 – October 1, 2020) was a German journalist and peace researcher, who interacted between civil society, mass media and politics. Over the course of four decades he had a profound impact on the public discourse ...

(Berlin Information Center for Transatlantic Security, Berlin) and Xavier Pasco (

Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique The Foundation for Strategic Research (''Fondation pour la recherche stratégique'' or ''FRS'') is an independent French think-tank. It was founded by Pierre Joxe (then Minister of Defence) in 1992-1993 by merging the FED (''Fondation pour les Étu ...

, Paris)

52 minutes version

A 52-minute version was edited for the French-Canadian public broadcaster Radio Canada (dubbed and narrated in French) and for the international TV market (in English).

CBC version

This 43-minute version, titled "Masters of Space", premiered on

CBC-TV CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

and repeated on CBC News Network in April 2010 as part of the scientific and environmental program " The Nature of Things", presented and narrated by acclaimed Canadian environmental activist

David Suzuki David Takayoshi Suzuki (born March 24, 1936) is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster, and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department at th ...

Festivals and awards

* Best Documentary Award, Whistler Film Festival 2009 (Canada) * Official Selection,

International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam « IDFA » International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * International (New Order album), ' ...

2009 (Netherlands) * Official Selection, Festival international de programmes audiovisuels « FIPA » 2010 (Biarritz, France) * Official Selection, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2010 (Greece) * Official Selection, Victoria Film Festival, 2010 (Canada) * Official Selection, Planete Doc Review Film Festival, 2010 (Varsaw, Poland) * Official Selection, « DOXA » Documentary Festival, 2010 (Vancouver, Canada) * Official Selection, London International Documentary Festival, 2010 (London, UK) * Official Selection,

Sci-Fi London Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

, 2010 (London, UK) * Official Selection, Madrid International Documentary Festival, 2010 (Madrid, Spain) * Official Selection, Encounters International Documentary Festival, 2010 (Cape Town, South Africa) * Opening Film, Oxdox International Documentary Festival, 2010 (Oxford, UK) * Official Selection, DocAviv International Documentary Festival, 2010 (Tel Aviv, Israel)

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack was composed by electronic artist and DJ Amon Tobin who created the Pax Americana Theme and other exclusive tracks for the movie. Additionally, Pax Americana features a number of artists signed by the London-based label

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

like Coldcut,

Blockhead Blockhead(s) may refer to: Films * ''The Blockhead'', a 1921 German silent film * ''Block-Heads'', a 1938 film starring Laurel and Hardy * ''Blockhead'' (film), a 1966 Italian film Music * Blockhead (music producer) (born 1976), American hip-h ...

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...

and Neotropic as well as Montréal based DJ Champion.

References

External links

''PAX AMERICANA and the Weaponization of Space''
official website *
''PAX AMERICANA and the Weaponization of Space''
trailer and movie clips on YouTube

Films Transit International
international agent
Article in ''The ACTivist Magazine''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pax Americana And The Weaponization Of Space 2009 films Documentary films about the United States 2009 documentary films Space weapons Documentary films about war Canadian documentary films French documentary films 2000s Canadian films 2000s French films