“Vostok’” takes a humorous look at the USSR’s Vostok program, which was designed to put the first human in space. Anderson recreates the launches with a dilapidated station wagon. He conveys a sense of the ramshackle nature of each launch with his makeshift launch pads, sparklers and wooden beams propping up the station wagon. The astronaut’s spacesuit looks like someone had taken a winter coat, insulated pants and a biker’s helmet, and wrapped it all in aluminium foil. Actually, it looks a little better than the suit Yuri Gagarin wore.

Please Note: Vostok part ‘5, ‘6 and ‘7 are screened as part of ‘Panorama 9: Nation Analysis’