Tomek Baginski’s Staggeringly Ambitious Plan: Ambition
Adapt and survive; the theme surrounding director, Tomek Baginski’s newest sci-fi film, Ambition. But what do we really know about it? I have scoured the internet all week hoping to find something, anything about this film. I managed to find out it was premiering as part of the BFI’s sci-fi week, but not even on their website was I able to find a hint of what this film is really about. What was so special about this film? Is it even worth waiting for? These were my questions up until Saturday, when I was actually able to locate information about this mysterious film. But we’ll get to that.
Why Do I Keep Questioning It?
The reason why I questioned this film so furiously before it hit the screen was because it stars an actor in the very famous Game of Thrones series, none other than Aidan Gillen himself. I was shocked when I first read about the movie in one article earlier last week, and couldn’t find anything more about it. It was so under the radar that I almost believed it didn’t exist. That is, until I watched the trailer.
The film tells the story of a young girl in an alien world, studying nanotechnology, hoping to impress her master. Does that tell you anything? Yeah, me neither.
The trailer itself was very vague, and I had so many questions that were unanswered, but because of the masterful cinematography and interesting setting it intrigued me. And who wouldn’t want to watch a movie with Little Finger himself? Especially when it is involving nanotechnology. Which, as it turns out, is a very interesting thing that I had never actually tried to learn about before watching the trailer for this movie.
A Lesson:
Nanotechnology, if you don’t know (and if you do, you can tell me if I’ve got this completely wrong) is the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale. In this world, the science of nanotechnology can be used for many different purposes. For example, wool can become self cleaning with the science of nanotechnology, and developers are using it to solve our pollution problem especially in water. However, in the world of the film Ambition, it seems to be different; manipulation of atoms using your mind.
Finally, a clue!
Okay, back to the film itself. Ambition premiered on Friday, October 24th in London. I was still looking everywhere for answers. Nothing was showing up, and the website still had no information. So on Saturday I made myself a cup of tea, sat at my desk and searched the internet for something. Would you believe I actually found it? And come to find out, it’s not a feature film at all. It’s actually another short; exactly what Tomek Baginski is best at.
The director, Tomek Baginski is known for his short films. He was nominated for an oscar for best short film in 2002, for The Cathedral. But Ambition turned out to be very different. Tome Baginski teamed with Platige Image and ESA to create science fiction into fact: the mission is called “Rosetta”. Its desire is to one day land on a comet. It aims to understand the origins of our solar system, and to find out the secrets buried 4.6 billion years ago.
I don’t know about you, but the real truth of the movie, the mission of Rosetta is much cooler than just regular old nanotechnology. It has a purpose to it, a drive, an ambition (pun intended) to do something no one has ever done before. It’s more than just manipulating atomic particles to clean dirty wool. It’s completely new and different. No one has ever done this before or may have even dreamed of doing it except for these few people who have spend their lives dedicated to this mission. The drive to push the boundaries of technology is astounding, and I hope they succeed.
Below is the film that I was finally able to find after about a week of searching for answers. It’s an interesting concept, and well executed. Watch the film, see for yourself, and tell us what your ambition is! And if you have any more questions about the Rosetta mission, visit their website.