Klim Shipenko

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Klim Alekseevich Shipenko (born 16 June 1983) is a Russian filmmaker and cosmonaut. He was born in Moscow and studied film production at California State University, Northridge starting in 2002. He interned on Nancy Meyers’s Something’s Gotta Give, shot his diploma film as a cameraman, and trained as an actor. He returned to Moscow in 2004, worked briefly for Channel One, and directed a car program.

Shipenko made his directing debut with the short White Night in 2006 and his first feature, Unforgiven, in 2009, which was shown at Kinotavr. He followed with the detective drama Who Am I? in 2010. His space-themed film Salyut 7, released in 2017, is based on real events on the Soviet space station of the 1980s.

In 2019 he directed Text, based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novel. The film drew wide attention for an intimate scene, and Glukhovsky called the adaptation successful; Text won several Golden Eagle Awards.

In 2021 Shipenko shot parts of a science fiction film aboard the International Space Station. The project, tentatively titled The Challenge, would be the first feature-length fiction film shot in space by professional filmmakers. Filming occurred between Soyuz MS-19 and MS-18 missions. On the ISS, Shipenko handled camera, lighting, sound and makeup, while actress Yulia Peresild starred. Equipment was launched on Progress MS-17 and returned on Soyuz MS-18, with help from cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and astronaut Mark Vande Hei.