Danielle Solzman
Over two years after the world premiere at Sundance, Apollo 11: Quarantine picks up with the astronauts landing back on Earth.
Leave it to Todd Douglas Miller to come through with a last-minute surprise. In a perfect world, Todd Douglas Miller would have won an Oscar for the 2019 feature documentary. However, this isn’t a perfect world as the critically acclaimed documentary didn’t get a nomination. Could this film change things by getting a nomination or win for Best Documentary Short Subject? I certainly hope so. It’s a surefire contender in my book and trust me, this isn’t the last you read about Apollo 11: Quarantine on these pages. An Oscar campaign is already being planned and the film is also in contention for the Solzy Awards for Short Films in November.
The film picks up upon their return to earth when the capsule lands in the ocean. Their 21-day quarantine process starts immediately upon closing the hatch on the lunar surface. Three days later, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins return to earth as heroes. The rest, as we know, is history. Apollo 11: Quarantine hits theaters and VOD as Americans are starting to mark the 11th month of the pandemic. And so, it makes sense to watch American heroes going through the same thing–21 days rather than 11 months and most likely longer. Miller chooses to end things with the Apollo 11 address to a joint session of Congress in September 1969.
Matt Morton’s musical contributions aren’t as noticeable as the documentary feature. You can hear his music clearly during the end credits.
There is no shortage of interest in Apollo 11. We have First Man among other films in existence. After all, the lunar mission marked the first time that man landed on the moon. I love how the filmmakers choose to focus on a quarantine at a time when so many of us are spending our time in quarantine. Todd Douglas Miller and company return to the archives for never-before-seen 70mm footage and the result is astounding once more.
DIRECTOR: Todd Douglas Miller
