Uchitel gets an Oscar nomination

The decision to nominate the film was also made yesterday by members of the Russian Oscar Commission under the chairmanship of Vladimir Menshov. It is comprised of Andrey Konchalovsky, Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Naumov, Gleb Panfilov, Kirill Razlogov and Karen Shakhnazarov.

“Krai” is a story about a retired locomotive engineer (Vladimir Mashkov), who after the war finds himself in the remote Siberian village by the name of Krai. First, the protagonist falls in love with Sofia (Yulia Peresild), a former governess, and as a result of her former lover’s intrigues, loses his fire-breathing friend – the steam locomotive. Then, on a river island, the engineer finds an abandoned train in the forest, in which Elza (Anjorka Strechel), a German girl, is hiding…

The filming of the movie, which was produced by Uchitel together with Konstantin Ernst, took place on the outskirts of St. Petersburg on the St. Petersburg-Pskov route, which the Russian Railways had agreed to shut down for the sake of one of the scenes. Vladimir Yakunin had personally travelled to the set, and was treated with a specialty dish – fried eggs, prepared on an engine burner.

Filming wasn’t easy for the actors: Mashkov, who learned how to handle the train and was in great physical shape on screen, nearly drowned – he was carried away by the stream when swimming across the river.

The Russian premiere of “Krai” will take place on September 16, and will be released on September 23. An interview with Vladimir Mashkov will be published in one of the upcoming Izvstia issues, in time for the premiere.

“Krai’s” competitors for the Oscar nomination were Vera Glagoleva’s “One War”, Aleksey Popogrebsky “How I Ended This Summer”, Pavel Lungin’s “Tsar”, and Nikitra Mikhalkov’s “Burnt by the Sun – 2: Anticipation”. However, the head of the Union of Cinematographers had offered to withdraw his film as “Anticipation” – is only one part of two related works.

RUSSIA TODAY

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.