PROJECT SUMMARY. TITLE: Far Frontiers. GENRE: Drama

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2 PROJECT SUMMARY TITLE: Far Frontiers GENRE: Drama LOGLINE: Russian military base, Kyrgyzstan. Maria, a wife of a deputy commander of the base, begins a relationship with another officer. Their affair quickly spirals out of control, fatally and irreversibly changing the course of Maria s and her family s life. WRITER: Boris Frumin DIRECTOR: Maxim Dashkin PRODUCER: Victoria Films (Russia/UK), Arsam International (France) LOCATION: Kyrgyzstan LANGUAGE: Russian, Kyrgyz TIME: 90 min 2

3 SYNOPSIS Many stories have been told about the military. Storytellers from David Lean to Francis Coppola have taken a curious audience behind the scenes of this otherwise elusive world. There is a point of view in its long history, though, that has rarely been portrayed. It is the story of military families. Today 150 Russian families live on a military base in Kyrgyzstan. A life that is a reality for so many seems unimaginable to most of us. Maria lives on the military base together with her husband Nikolay, the deputy commander, and their son. She desperately anticipates her husband s transfer back to Russia, dreaming of a life where she and her family will have their own home. Here, having just one bedroom to themselves in the officers hostel, the family has no privacy, to Maria it seems, as if everything she does is being monitored by the others under a magnifying glass. Their son Fedya is part of the judo team and coached by Captain Krainov. Maria is surprised to see how attentive Krainov is to the kids on the team. He is strikingly different from Nikolay, who treats their son just like another soldier. In preparation of an important judo competition Maria and Krainov are getting very close. Without realizing what Maria has gotten herself into she becomes engulfed in an emotional and personal storm facing the consequences of faith and moral. Is her family strong enough to withstand this hurricane? 3

4 DIRECTOR S NOTE I have always been an admirer of Boris Frumin s work (Street Days, Blind Dates) and was very excited by the opportunity of developing Far Frontiers with him. The film focuses on two main themes we wanted to explore: The Russian military expansion in Central Asia and the Middle East as well as the relation between faith and fidelity. In today s world where seemingly anything is acceptable and almost no limits are set, I was engrossed to revisit the notion that there is a price to pay when a person crosses a moral line. Furthermore the unique location of a remote military base in Kyrgyzstan, will play an integral part in the storytelling and become almost like an additional character of the film. By emphasizing the contrast between the closed off military base and the beautiful wide landscapes of Kyrgyzia we are elevating the tension from storytelling to the visual. 4

5 DIRECTOR S BIO Maxim Dashkin graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2012 with an M.F.A in film, where he focused on directing. Preceding his post-graduate degree Maxim worked for 12 years in the advertising business in Moscow, New York and San Francisco, in agencies such as Publicis, Goodby, BBH and Ogilvy & Mather. Since returning to Russia in 2012, Maxim has established himself as an emerging talent in the local market with credits including feature-length documentaries, TV-series and films for main Russian TV-channels. Furthermore his short films Moving in Circles and Broken Maiden have been screened at over 30 festivals worldwide and won 15 awards. WRITER S BIO Boris Frumin, writer, director who started to make films at Lenfilm. His filmography as a director includes feature films A Diary of a School Principal (1975), A Melodrama of One Family (1976) and The Errors of Youth (1978), Black & White (1991), Viva Castro! (1993). His films were shown at the New Directors New Films Festival at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, in Un Certain Regard program at the Cannes Film Festival as well as London and Edinburgh Film Festivals, Sundance Film Festival and others. His latest screenwriting credits include Blind Dates and Street Days, directed by Levan Koguashvili. 5

6 PRODUCER VICTORIA FILMS Victoria Films is a development and production company with offices in the UK and Russia. Founded by Anna von Dziembowska and Maxim Dashkin, Victoria Films was set up to tell unique stories that travel across different cultures and can reach a worldwide audience. Anna and Maxim first met during their Masters at the prestigious NYU Tisch School of the Arts and have since produced numerous award winning short films and commercials in Asia and Europe. Since establishing Victoria Films in 2015, Anna and Maxim have developed a diverse slate of projects that have received awards at film festivals, such as Venice and Cannes. CO-PRODUCER - ARSAM INTERNATIONAL ARSAM INTERNATIONAL is a Paris based production company dedicated to international coproductions, which can also act as executive production. Our productions include Bille August s Goodbye Bafana ( 2007 Berlinale Cinema For Peace Award), Venice 2009 Golden Lion Lebanon by Samuel Maoz, I Anna by Barnaby Southcombe, Ombline by Stéphane Cazes and When Day Breaks by Goran Paskaljevic. 6

7 CHARACTERS MARIA LESKOVA Maria lives on the military base together with her husband Nikloay Leskov, the deputy commander of the base and her 14-year old son, Fedya. Military families live close to each other, lack personal space and follow the strict, unspoken rules of behavior. Maria is desperately awaiting her husband s transfer back home to Russia. Her dream is to finally get her own home and maybe to give birth to a second child. Maria is considered a good wife, kind and generous, yet the feelings for Nikolay have cooled off after 15 years of marriage. Maria is deeply disturbed that Nikolay treats their son Fedya just like another soldier. Played by YULIYA PERESILD After graduating from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts Yulia has appeared in more than 30 films and since 2007 she has been one of the leading actresses at the State Theater of Nations. She became well known after playing supporting roles in In the Fog (2012) directed by Sergey Loznitsa an The Edge (2010) directed by Aleksey Uchitel. Lead roles in the drama film Nevesta (2006), the comedy Santa Lyuchiya (2012), Bitva za Sevastopol (2015) brought her popularity among Russian audiences. 7

8 CHARACTERS NIKOLAY LESKOV Deputy commander of the military base. Honest, honorable. The weak point of his character is jealousy. But he will only find out about it in the 15th year of his marriage. Nikolay treats his son rough, but out of good intentions - He wants him to grow up and become a real man. Played by VLADIMIR VDOVICHENKOV Vladimir Vdovichencov began his career starring in two films that became cult in Russia. This is the Boomer (2003) by Petr Buslov and the TV series Brigada (2002). Participation in these projects have brought him great popularity among the audience. Vladimir has appeared in more than forty films. One of the latest was Leviathan (2014) by Andrey Zvyagintzev. Leviathan won the Golden Globe and was also nominated for an Oscar. VLADIMIR KRAINOV Krainov was raised at an orphanage, he is a very romantic man. An exceptional specialist at telecommunications. The most valuable specialist at the base. Yet, he is involved in scheming with locals over petroleum. And had an affair with Alina a local waitress from teahouse Bakhor. Krainov writes poems for Alina. Once he will start relationships with Maria, he will start writing poems for her. Played by OLEG DOLIN Oleg Dolin was born in 1981 in Moscow. Graduated theater school in In 2009 he won Nika for the best male role in Wild Fileds. For the same role he was nominated at Gold Eagle Awards. Oleg also works as a director at RAMT theater. 8

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