The famous writer’s grandson Roland Franko and project producer Egor Olesov signed a memorandum of cooperation  

The team of Kinorob studio working on creating a historical film The Rising Hawk  met the famous writer’s grandson Roland Franko, head of Ivan Franko International Foundation, and signed a memorandum of cooperation for producing the film based on the Ukrainian classic’s novella with the same title.

“Creation of The Rising Hawk film based on the novel by the great Kamenyar [Stonemason in Ukrainian] is the monument to the Genius which will bring him back to life,” says the Foundation’s director Igor Kurus. “On our part, we’ll put all our efforts into helping the team get immersed in the world of Ivan Franko’s novella, ideas and thoughts so that they could make a great film.” 

The project’s creative team, Foundation’s representatives, experts on Ivan Franko’s original heritage, culture scholars, historians, and ethnographers will join their efforts in working on the future screening. According to the Memorandum, the Foundation will conduct informational support of Kinorob company needed for film production and provide consultations on Ivan Franko’s creative work. Besides, during the whole production period for the film, the partners will conduct joint events to raise the public’s awareness about The Rising Hawk.

“One of the main goals for the film is to take the ideas of civil society, unity, self-dedication, and integrity embedded by the classical author in his work, bring them forward to the youngsters and make them understandable for the contemporary audience. We want to show that all these ideas are still relevant,” says film producer Egor Olesov. “We are thankful to Roland Franko and Igor Kurus for their help in our work on the project. And the first step of our cooperation was a research expedition to the Carpathians in late November; we’ll tell about it a bit later.”

Just a reminder, The Rising Hawk  produced by Kinorob became the winner of the 9th competitive selection for film projects from Ukrainian State Film Agency. The film’s budget is 75 million UAH out of which 30 million in the Agency’s support. Director is Akhtem Seitablayev; producers are Egor Olesov and Yuriy Prylypko. The screenwriter is Yaroslav Voytseshek. The artistic director is Vlad Odudenko. The filming of the historical movie will start in spring 2018.

Synopsis: The year is 1241. The Mongol horde lead by cruel khan Burunda moves west, destroying everything in its path. Reaching the Carpathian mountains, the troops camp right below. However, at night several local hunters, the Berkut brothers, secretly enter the camp and free the hostages. Consumed with rage, the khan decides to take revenge and destroy the Carpathian settlements. A traitor amongst the locals tells the Mongols about a secret passage inside the mountains. Nevertheless, a small group of mountain hunters lead by Zakhar Berkut has its own plan to stop the enemy horde once and for all.