We Can't Live Without Cosmos (Russian: Мы не можем жить без космоса, My ne mozhem zhit bez kosmosa) is a 2015 Russian animated short film directed and written by Konstantin Bronzit. It is produced by Alexander Boyarsky. The film received critical praise and wide recognition. It received many awards including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 88th Academy Awards.
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Plot summary
Two lifelong friends – designated by the numbers 1203 and 1204 – grow up with the shared dream of becoming cosmonauts. They easily pass the many physical tests they take during their cosmonaut training, and they even attempt to simulate the feel of flying through space by bouncing on their beds. They are ultimately selected for the next mission, with 1203 being launched solo and 1204 standing by as the reserve cosmonaut. The launch at first goes smoothly, but communication with the ship is soon lost; it is implied that 1203 dies in the vacuum of space. Inconsolable with grief, 1204 refuses to take off his spacesuit; an X-ray shows him curled up in a fetal position in the torso. Eventually, medical staff saw his helmet off, but find the suit empty except for a photo of the two friends in their spacesuits. They then look up to see a hole shaped like 1204's body in the ceiling above his bed, and 1204 is shown drifting suitless through space, where the still-suited 1203 grabs him by the arm.
Awards and nominations
Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film – Nominated
Aspen Shortsfest Special Jury Prize – Won
Animafest Zagreb Grand Prize Award – Won
Annecy International Animated Film Festival – Feature Film – Won
Cape Cod International Film Festival – Best Animated Short Film – Won
China International New Media Short Film Festival – KingBonn Award – Won
Hiroshima International Animation Festival – Grand Pix – Nominated
Imago Film Festival – Best of Show – Won
Marcin Award – Best Youths' Short Movie – Won
Melbourne International Film Festival – Best Animated Short Film – Won (Alexander Boyarsky, Sergey Selyakov; Producers with Konstantin Bronzit)
Nika Awards – Best Animated Film – Nominated
Rhode Island International Film Festival – Grand Prize – Best Animation – Won
Tokyo Anime Award
Short Film Competition – Grand Prize – Won
Short Film – Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Prize – Won
San Francisco International Film Festival – Golden Gate Award – Best Animated Short Film – Nominated
Animation Show of Shows – Won