Graeme Arnfield’s FLAMIN Productions title The Case Against Space is the winner of this year’s Doc Alliance Film Award.

A fascinating reconstruction of the first labour strike in outer space, The Case Against Space tells the story of three astronauts who, in 1973, downed tools on NASA’s Skylab space station in protest at working conditions. Arnfield’s grippingly claustrophobic documentary makes use of original transcripts and takes place in real time, blending reenactment and painstaking research to tell a tale that might have unfolded among the stars but nevertheless speaks to very grounded struggles for labour rights that many people are currently waging.

Selected by a seven-strong contingent of key European documentary film festivals, the news was announced during the Cannes Film Festival and saw Graham receive €5,000 toward his next project.

Graeme received a £30,000 FLAMIN Production award in September 2023 and completed the project in January 2026. A co-production with CNC, the film subsequently screened at Switzerland’s Visions du Réel Festival and closed this year’s Open City Documentary Festival at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Rose Cupit, Head of Artists’ Moving Image at Film London, said: “This is a truly fantastic result for Graeme and The Case Against Space. FLAMIN Productions exists to support and nurture ambitious projects that innovate, challenge, question and push boundaries, and with The Case Against Space Graeme has met these aims while creating a piece of work that is intriguing, thought-provoking and extremely timely. It demonstrates the flexibility and appeal of UK artists’ moving image work, having the ability to achieve success across the art world, film industry and documentary sector. Having recently played to a sold-out hometown audience at the Institute of Contemporary Arts it’s tremendously its heartening to see the film cross the channel and receive this award at the world’s most famous film festival – we’re all excited to see where Graeme heads next, because it really does seem as though the sky might be the limit.”

Of the film, the Doc Alliance Jury said:

“The Doc Alliance Award goes to a film that combines extensive research with speculative interpretation. Whilst drawing on the filmmaker’s previous work with found footage, this film represents a step in an equally uncompromising new direction. Formally bold, it commits to a claustrophobic lo-fi aesthetic that foregrounds the human testimonies.”

In other Cannes-related news, FLAMIN alumnus Clio Barnard took home this year’s Directors’ Fortnight People’s Choice Award for her stunning I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning. Barnard was nominated for the 2011 Jarman Award, and received FLAMIN funding for her 2004 film/installation Road Race.