Aniara is one of the massive spaceships constructed to transport the Earth’s human population to its new home on Mars. After leaving its passengers’ devastated home planet behind, Aniara collides with some space debris, knocking the ship off its pre-programmed course. Following the accident, the passengers gradually come to the realization that they will never return to land and Ariana will drift off into empty space for all eternity. The cinematic adaptation of a 1956 epic poem by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson, Aniara was considered a major discovery at last year’s Toronto IFF, hailed as one of the best indie sci-fi films ever made. Critics and audiences alike praised the film’s combination of intimacy and grandiosity, free of the typical Hollywood clichés. The result is an existential and emotional vision of the near future, one that attracts and excites, but also serves as a stern warning.