Yesterday the OIFF Series section launched a premiere screening of The Red Bracelets TV-series, produced in co-production of Ukraine and Russia (FILM.UA and AVK Production). The first two episodes of the series were premiered on the territory of Ukraine on the large screen. This motion picture became the closing series of the new OIFF Series section, established in cooperation with Media Resources Management and Ukraine TV-channel under the auspices of FILM.UA Group.
Polina Tolmacheva, FILM.UA Group’s PR and Marketing Director, presented the series to vast audience: “Albert Espinoza, the author of the original Catalan Polseres Vermelles format, did not entirely make up the story for The Red Bracelets’ scenario, - he was diagnosed with cancer when he was 14, and ultimately, after a ten-year struggle, he lost his leg, his lung and a part of his liver. His own by-gone sorrows were made into a book which was shortly made into the scenario, and now more than a dozen countries went adapting the Catalan format into local versions – the Italian, German, and the U.S. adaptations have already been premiered on television. When Albert Espinoza saw our final Red Bracelets’ montage, he said he thought it was the best format adaptation so far”.
After the Odessa screening, the whole audience exploded with applause and came to us in order to say their thank you: “What a heavy theme, but how nicely made”, “You cannot hold up your tears but you cannot hold your laughter as well”, “We do hope much this film will make it to the TV-release! A product of a quality this high must be seen by the general audience”, “This is the best thing that happened to me at the Festival today. Thank you!”
The co-produced Ukrainian and Russian version was directed by Natalia Meshchaninova. The television rights for screening The Red Bracelets in Ukraine were acquired by STB TV-channel, and in Russia the series will run on the “First Channel”.
As a reminder, a line of six TV-series from Western and Eastern Europe was cinema-screened within the first non-competition Series program on July 16th-21st.
The Red Bracelets (Polseres vermelles) is a Catalan TV-series that was released in 2011 and gained lighting-fast popularity first in Spain and then globally: the original format was run in Mexico, Finland, Sweden, Argentina, France, the U.S. and other countries all over the world.
Synopsis: Children’s unit in the hospital occurs as a model of the world, where teenagers accept the real life challenges, make difficult decisions, become friends and fall in love with each other. There is no pathetic drama in the story of young patients, on the contrary it is told lightly, touching, and even funny, praising the life itself.
FILM.UA Group is a creative powerhouse and one of the largest Eastern European media groups, operating in global markets and covering the full production cycle: development, production, adaptation and distribution of audiovisual content through the vertical business structure.
AVK Production – is a Russian company producing television content – TV-series, TV-shows, television feature films and documentaries.
