WILD TRIBE FILMS (Belgium, France) and FILM.UA (Ukraine) are pleased to announce the beginning of shooting for the family adventure-fantasy written and directed by an award-winning French-Belgian director Olias Barco (KILL ME PLEASE, Grand Prix Rome IFF ). Three-time César Award winner Thierry Arbogast (THE FIFTH ELEMENT, BON VOYAGE, THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF) has joined the production as Director of Photography; shooting is set to take place at the FILM.UA studios in Kyiv, Ukraine.
POLINA is an adventure fantasy for the whole family. It follows a young girl - Polina - who sets out on a magical journey in search of the truth about her lost parents. 11-year old Ukrainian actress Polina Pechenenko plays the title role, where she is joined by an international cast, including Saul Rubinek (UNFORGIVEN, TRUE ROMANCE, THE FAMILY MAN), Audrey Marnay (PARIS, THE MONUMENTS MEN, BUNKER PARADISE), Virgile Bramly (INCEPTION, MANDERLAY, POINT BLANK), Wim Willaert (WHEN THE SEA RISES, EX DRUMMER), and Daniel Cohen (LE CHEF, ALL THAT GLITTERS). Further casting decisions to follow.
Olias Barco is a French director based in Brussels whose short film ‘Poubelles’ won the Golden award in the Cannes ‘Critics Week’. ‘Kill Me Please’, his black comedy feature about medically assisted suicide, has won an even dozen awards at festival showings, including the’ Golden Marcus Aurelius Award’ at the Rome Film Festival in 2010.
Director of Photography, Thierry Arbogast, is noted for his long-time collaboration with French director Luc Besson, having worked as DOP on the films ‘Leon', ‘The Fifth Element', and most recently, the international smash, ‘Lucy'.
The film’s Producers are Olias Barco and Dennis Ivanov (THE TRIBE), Egor Olesov (BATTLE FOR SEVASTOPOL), and Yuriy Prylypko.
The filmmakers have created the featured’s immersive fantasy world at Kyiv’s FILM.UA Studios, where ‘Polina’ set to be filmed. According to Olias Barco, the studio itself will play a character in the film, with much of the action taking place on a movie set as reimagined in a child’s fantasy.
‘Polina’ will be shot in English, and is intended for a world wide distribution. Release is scheduled for Autumn 2016.
