Finding Laika

Finding Laika

*a mostly untrue story

22.6% of this documentary about Laika, the first animal to orbit the Earth is true. The rest has been fabricated for comedic effect by writer Jonathan Heath. The visuals, soundtrack and voiceover were all generated by AI.

A patchwork of scenes of mid-century Soviet life, the film takes its aesthetic from the Socialist Realist painting genre that was such an artistic hallmark of the USSR. This has been coupled with a VO designed intentionally to mimic the celebrated documentarian and journalist Adam Curtis (Hypernormalisation, Bitter Lake, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head).

Written, Directed & Generated by Jonathan Heath

Visuals by Leonardo

Animations by Luma

Voiceover by ElevenLabs

Soundtrack by Suno