Paul Duran-Lemos
Directing
Known For

The 25-minute long documentary details the entirety of the artistic process from Ralph Ziman’s inspiration for the project and acquisition of the MiG-21, to the international collaboration to create the beadwork and assemble the art piece, leading up to the project’s unveiling at The Museum of Flight. Also covered in the film is background on the MiG-21, including details about the plane used (decommissioned tail number 8971) and how MiGs’ presence in the Angolan Civil War ultimately hastened the end of white rule in South Africa. See historical footage and personal interviews, including the Polish pilot who flew tail number 8971 in the 1980s, a South African Border War pilot and the team of artists and craftspeople in Southern Africa and the United States who took on the huge task of covering the aircraft in tens of millions of glass beads.
The MiG-21 Project
Reggie O'Brien is a modest insurance expert with a cephalopod head. He leads a quiet, ordinary life until one day a colleague asks him about his plans for the weekend. He is then overcome by a growing unease and cosmic fear that gradually takes hold, transforming his reality into a nightmarish hell.