On October 10, the first screenings of the most expected Ukrainian release for this autumn, The Stronghold fantasy film, took place. At FILM.UA studio, the film was viewed by media representatives who were also invited for a guided tour over filming locations. At the press conference dedicated to the release the journalists shared their first impressions, comments and admiration with the film authors. In the evening, Oscar cinema (Gulliver mall) had a historic sold-out screening; the film was watched by the partners of Kinorob studio, Novyi TV channel, Ukrainian State Film Agency, UFD, representatives of the biggest Ukrainian media structures, authorities, cinematographers, and celebrities.  

In the first minutes after watching The Stronghold the audience flooded the social networks with film reviews, their emotions, words of thanks and photos with the team. The viewers were impressed by acting, costumes and locations, soundtrack, high-quality VFX, emotions in the story and also some jokes, like “an arrow in the head is still an arrow in the head” – adapted and understandable for the Ukrainian audience. 

The partners of the event were Finlandia, Jack Daniel's and Pepsi!

These screenings became the first ones among premiere events: today on October 11, Lviv welcomes the film in Planeta Kino cinema (Forum Lviv mall). The guests will be greeted by film director Yuriy Kovalyov, screenwriter Yaroslav Voytseshek and actors Roman Lutsky, Oleg Voloschenko and Daniil Kamensky.  

On October 13, in Cinema City in Kyiv a Knight premiere of the film will take place, with the participation of The Stronghold team and Ukrainian first lady, Maryna Poroshenko. The audience will also include children taken care of by charity organizations.

Just like the film protagonist Vitko (Daniil Kamensky) who gets into a magic portal and goes from the 21^st century one thousand years back, the premiere guests found themselves in medieval times. In cinema foyer, they were met by cumans, rusychy and knights; photozones with elements of film set allowed to feel the movie ambience, and using Samsung VR glasses the guests could watch film’s video backstage in 360-degree format. Another surprise was a real knight duel performed by the stuntmen who participated in the film. Even more feel to the event was added by a musical accompaniment: Kyiv chamber choir sang a song created specially for The Stronghold film. Then the floor was taken by Oleg Voloschenko who played Illya Muromets; he started the official part of the event. 

Everyone present was greeted by the creative team: film director Yuriy Kovalyov, producers Egor Olesov and Yuriy Prylypko, knights Roman Lutsky, Oleg Voloschenko and Oleksandr Komarov, actress Slava Krasovska and two lead actors, Daniil Kamensky and Eva Kosheva.

“This wasn’t an easy road”, says film director Yuriy Kovalyov. “But we made it with our cool team. I thank each and every one of these people. I really hope the film will be well received – we gave our all for that. Please bring your families and see what has come out of it!”  

Producer Egor Olesov, about the details of creating The Stronghold: “A really great team of over 500 professionals worked on the film! We specially built a wooden fortress at FILM.UA studio and filmed in ten more locations, in particular in the Carpathians. 160 costumes were made for the actors, and about as many unique ones were obtained from private collections. With the help of computers graphics, we created a powerful film character, the stone monster. We spent more than a year on post-production. We made the film for adults and children alike, so there’s no cruelty and blood in it. I really hope the Ukrainian audience likes this film. The biggest award for the whole team will be sold-out screenings. We invite everyone to the cinema starting from October 12!” 

Yuriy Prylypko about VFХin the film: “This is the most complicated technical project created in Ukraine as of today. 688 VFX shots. The film has 1,727 shots total. I.e.,about 40 per cent of the film were created using visual effects. The hardestjob for each of us was to express our opinions in front of the team in a correct way. Because everyone sees things very differently. So I am happy that after such a challenging project we can smile sincerely, looking each other in the eye, just like before.”   

Pylyp Illenko, head of Ukrainian State Film Agency, congratulated the whole team and personally director Yuriy Kovalyov on a successful feature debut and noted the following: “Fantasy genre is among the most popular in the world, so real film industry cannot exist without it. We, the Agency, are very happy that we supported this project. It had to come a long way to make it to the big screen, as state financing started only in two years after the contract was signed, but I hope the audience will like it. And not just Ukrainian audience.”  

During the premiere, a historic event took place – an official ceremony of postmarking the stamp dedicated to The Stronghold, which is brought into circulation by Ukrposhta, main post of the country, starting from October 10. The stamp depicts three knights, which are characters in this film – they are Oleshko (Roman Lutsky), Illya (Oleg Voloschenko), and Dobrynya (Oleksandr Komarov). 130,000 stamps have been produced at the face value of 4 UAH each, which equals the tariff for sending a simple letter weighing 20 grams or less within Ukraine. The stamp also has a First Day envelope and a maxi card with the film poster.   

The special participants of the postmarking ceremony were Pylyp Illenko, head of Ukrainian State Film Agency; Igor Smilyansky, Ukrposhta CEO; Yuriy Kovalyov, The Stronghold director; and Daniil Kamensky, lead actor.  

“Posts of every country issue various art stamps every year, each one commemorating an extraordinary event which influenced the development and history of that country. Ukrposhta is changing, Ukrainian cinema is changing, and this project is a symbol of these positive changes. The issuing of this stamp is a symbolic recognition of Ukrainian cinematography. This is also an extraordinary event because for the first time in Ukraine a stamp is issued dedicated to a fully Ukrainian film. It is starting from this unique stamp that we’ll be restoring Ukrainian postage stamps, launching interesting and catchy projects,” says Igor Smilyansky, Ukrposhta CEO. 

Besides, at the premiere party Fagot, who played the role of a sentinel in The Stronghold, sang a song which became a part of the film.  

“Mantra song was born on the day of false referendum in the Crimea when our friend Slavik Pilunsky suddenly disappeared there. The melody appeared instantly and had a Cossack Sorcerer’s Prayer added to it right afterwards. We translated the prayer they said before the battle into Ukrainian. According to the legend, sometimes Cossack sorcerers won even without drawing their weapons, only with the power of their thoughts. I don’t know what worked, but Slava was set free from captivity in five days. I think these words are something more than just text,” said Oleg “Fagot” Mykhaylyuta.

The film team expresses its sincere gratitude to the Ukrainian State Film Agency for supporting The Stronghold and to everyone who worked on the film, all Partners who believed in this film, and all the media helping to spread the word about The Stronghold!  

The Stronghold

The film is based on a book by Volodymyr Rutkovsky and has been made by Kinorob company with the support of Ukrainian State Film Agency. The film’s co-producer is Novyi channel, and the product is distributed in Ukraine by UFD company.

Genre: fantasy, adventure

Director: Yuriy Kovalyov

Producers: Egor Olesov, Yuriy Prylypko

Screenwriters: Sashko Dermansky, Yaroslav Voytseshek, Yuriy Kovalyov

Cameraman: Yuriy Korol

Composers: Vladlen Pupkov and Sergiy Sydorov

Co-producer: Novyi TV channel

Film company: Kinorob

Lead roles played by:

Daniil Kamensky - Viktor

Eva Kosheva – Olenka

Roman Lutsky – Oleshko

Oleg Voloschenko – Illya

Oleksandr Komarov - Dobrynya

Georgy Derevyansky – grandfather Ovsiy

Slava Krasovska – Rosanka

Natalia Sumska – Milanka

Yerzhan Nurymbet - Andak

Yerbolat Toguzakov - Shaman

Ivan Denysenko - Tugaryn