Battle for Sevastopol

　　BATTLE OF SEVASTOPOL

　　Russia-Ukraine, 2015

　　Script: Maxim Budarin, Sergei Mokrtitsky

　　Directed by: Sergei Mokritsky

　　Director of Photography: Yuri Korol

　　Music: Eugene Galperine

　　Cast: Yulia Peresild, Evgeny Tsyganov, Nikita Tarasov, Joan Blackham

　　Producers: Egor Olesov, Natalia Mokritskaya, Mila Rozanova, Uliana Savelieva  

　　Story of a woman who changed the course of history　

　　Falling in love with men who perished in devastating enemy fire, befriending Eleanor Roosevelt, delivering a landmark speech at a conference that influenced the outcome of World War II, constantly fighting in order to live and to love  - can a fragile woman handle all this?  

　　This is the true story of Ludmila Pavlichenko, a legendary Soviet woman sniper. Soldiers went into combat carrying her name. Enemies hunted her. She saw death and suffering on the battlefield, but her hardest test was love, which war could take away from her… 　　 

　　How the Project Came to Life: 

　　The idea to film a biopic of Ludmila Pavlichenko was originally conceived by the Cinema Committee of Ukraine in 2012, then headed by Ekaterina Kopylova. The project had to unite two countries in this depiction of a large-scale excerpt of their mutual recent history. Producers on both sides were equally fascinated by this true story, and the work began. The decision to green light the project was made in December 2012 by Kinorob (Ukraine) headed by Egor Olesov and New People (Russia) headed by Natalia Mokritskaya. 　　

　　Actual production began in 2013. The film was funded by Ministry of Culture of Russia and Ukranian Cinema Committee. The budget is 5 Million US$. 　　

　　Shooting began in Fall of 2013 and lasted until July 25th, 2014. It took place in Sevastopol, Balaklava, Kiev, Odessa, Kamenets-Podolsky.

　　Sergei Mokritsky, director: 

　　Graduated as director of photography from Russian State Institute of Cinematography in 1991. Worked on multiple feature and documentary films as director of photography. Feature films, made as director, include: “Four Ages of Love” (2008), “Day of the Teacher” (2012), “Battle of Sevastopol” (2015).  　 

　　Director’s Statement: 　　

　　For me “Battle of Sevastopol” is not only a film about war. Of course, there are plenty of visual scenes with combats, explosions, falling planes, and massive submarines. However, my main goal was to make a film about a human being. A very strong human being. And about love.  

　　Although war severely wounded our protagonist’s life, it also, ironically, helped her feel more alive and helped her manifest her feelings stronger. 　　

　　The film is based on true events and it shows us real war heroes. After studying the archives and consulting with historians who told us in details about the life of Ludmila Pavlichenko and that historical period in Odessa and Sevastopol, we realized that we don’t need to invent much in the script. Life itself has written a fascinating script for us. 　　

　　We had an extensive casting period when we tried to find a young actress who would play Ludmila. I was impressed at once by Yulia Perisild’s performance. I did not even notice that she was 6 months pregnant during casting, and asked her to carry a heavy rifle and perform physical exercises. She was Ludmila. 　　

　　Visually the film is divided into three parts. The “dirty” war, which looks almost black-and-white, a very chaotic and colorful image of pre-war scenes and glossy image of peaceful United States. 　　

　　I should, of course, mention the atmosphere on set. Our team was purely international – we had Russians, Ukranians, Lithuanians, Polish, Jewish… Despite the complicated period in the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, we simply excluded politics from all our conversations. It was extremely important to me that the relationship within our team became a sample prototype for the relationship between our countries – amicable and productive. 　　

　　One government official asked me: “What war is your movie about – World War II or the Great Patriotic War?” There is a lot of ongoing debate between politicians and historians about these two titles.　　

　　My position is very clear. My name is Sergei. I was named in honour of my uncle who died on May 8th, 1945. I don't think there is an answer to the question, in which war he perished – World War II or Great Patriotic War. 　

　　In our film we discuss topics which are above these political debates. Should a young girl be at war? Can you kill a human being and remain a human being yourself? For me this film is part of our mutual history, which bonds us together and restricts us from becoming enemies.