For many, cosmologist Carl Sagan was the face of space exploration, scientific inquiry, and insatiable curiosity, his enthusiasm contagious. In the first feature documentary about the beloved Cosmos (PBS series and book circa 1980) creator and voice, Nanette Burstein reveals the man behind the legend. Sagan’s involvement in the Voyager satellite program that was instrumental not only in discovering details about Earth’s neighboring planets but also paved the way for serious discussion about extraterrestrial life catapulted the university professor and NASA advisor into the stratosphere. But with additional fame as both an icon and an iconoclast (notably his activism against nuclear proliferation), came a heavy toll: a fractured family life and difficulty adapting to his role in it, until he met his soulmate, Anne. In this absorbing evocation of Sagan’s life, Burstein employs home movies, audio archives, candid testimonials, and extraordinary space photography to tell the story of a true globalist who loved being an ambassador for the human condition, the spread of knowledge, and our relationship with the universe. —Sterling Hedgpeth