FIRST STILLS RELEASED FROM THE SET OF RALPH FIENNES’ THE WHITE CROW
Director Ralph Fiennes with lead actor Oleg Ivenko at the Russian State Hermitage Museum
(credit: The White Crow)
Oleg Ivenko as Rudolf Nureyev (credit: Jessica Forde)
The first images released from the transcontinental set of Ralph Fiennes’ THE WHITE CROW feature actor and dancer Oleg Ivenko in Paris and also alongside director Ralph Fiennes at the Russian State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The film, based on an explosive chapter in the life of acclaimed ballet star Rudolf Nureyev, has been shooting for two weeks in France and Russia at authentic locations from the life of the dancer, which have also included: the Sainte-Chapelle; the Louvre; Palais Garnier; and, the Mariinsky Theatre. It is the first film to be allowed access to Russia’s State Hermitage Museum since Sokurov’s Russian Ark. Filming will continue in Croatia and Serbia until late October.
THE WHITE CROW was developed by BBC Films and Gabrielle Tana (The Duchess, Dancer, Philomena) who will also produce with Carolyn Marks Blackwood through Magnolia Mae Productions together with François Ivernel (The Queen, Slumdog Millionaire, The Iron Lady) through the French branch of his company, Montebello Productions. American artist and filmmaker Andrew Levitas (Lullaby, Georgetown, The Art of Getting By) has joined the project as producer and financier through his companies Metalwork Pictures and Rogue Black respectively. Rose Garnett and Joe Oppenheimer of BBC Films are executive producers and HanWay Films are on board with financing and handling worldwide sales and distribution. The Fyzz Facility is co-financing the film with Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones Executive Producing.
Written by two-time Academy Awardâ nominated David Hare (The Hours, The Reader), and based on the book “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life” by Julie Kavanagh, THE WHITE CROW delves into the most cinematic, cultural and politically charged chapter in the life of Russian dancer Rudolph Nureyev, a fearless, explosive personality both on and off the stage.
With a magnetic presence, Nureyev was the embodiment of balletic magnificence and by the 1950s had emerged as a young star in Leningrad. Ralph Fiennes will intimately capture the raw physicality and brilliance of Nureyev, while David Hare's script delivers a tight and thrilling insight into his dangerous defection to the West in 1961 Paris, choreographed by the dancer's great friend, 21-year-old Parisian Clara Saint. In a finale at Le Bourget airport in Paris, THE WHITE CROW climaxes with that global event, re-enacting a day that captivated and stunned the world over and proved to be one of the West's greatest propaganda coups during the Cold War.
New additions to the internationally-renowned cast include Olivier Rabourdin (Of Gods and Men) and ballet stars Anastasia Meskova, a First Soloist for the Bolshoi, and Anna Polikarpova, Senior Principal Dancer for Hamburg Ballet. As previously announced, the cast also includes two-time Academy Awardâ nominated and BAFTA winner Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus, The Grand Budapest Hotel) alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Colour), Louis Hofmann (Land of Mine, Alone in Berlin), Raphaël Personnaz (The Princess of Montpensier, Anna Karenina), Calypso Valois (Personal Shopper, Summertime), world-renowned dancer Sergei Polunin (Dancer, Murder on the Orient Express), and distinguished Russian actress Chulpan Khamatova (Good bye Lenin!).
Academy Awardâ nominated Production Designer Anne Seibel (Midnight in Paris) and choreographer Johan Kobborg, former Principal of the Royal Ballet, round out the key production team that also includes: BAFTA Award winner and Academy Awardâ nominated Costume Designer Madeline Fontaine (Jackie, Amélie); BAFTA Award nominated Director of Photography Mike Eley (Marley, Touching the Void); and BAFTA Award nominated Composer Ilan Eshkeri (Dancer, Still Alice).
HanWay Films is selling the film at Toronto International Film Festival where their slate also includes Haifaa Al Mansour’s Mary Shelley starring Elle Fanning which will have its World Premiere as a Gala Presentation, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell which will screen as a Special Presentation.
Ralph Fiennes is represented by Simon Beresford at Dalzell & Beresford and Bryan Lourd and Joel Lubin at CAA.
ABOUT HANWAY FILMS
HanWay Films is a UK based international sales company specializing in quality, high-profile and commercially driven films from visionary and unique filmmakers around the world. Established in 1998 by producer Jeremy Thomas, HanWay offers full service solutions; arranging financing, sales, marketing and distribution. HanWay has long-term global producing partnerships and represents films from Recorded Picture Company along with projects from third party producers as well as the rights to an extensive film catalogue of over five hundred feature films.
HanWay’s slate includes Haifaa Al Mansour’s Mary Shelley starring Elle Fanning which will have its World Premiere as a Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival; Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell which had its World Premiere In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival and will screen as a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, Takashi Miike’s Blade of the Immortal, John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties, and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s A Prayer before Dawn all which will screened Out of Competition at Cannes. HanWay also represents Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Farming starring Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Stanley Tucci’s Final Portrait which received its World Premiere at the 2017 Berlinale; and, coming up; Ralph Fiennes’ Nureyev thriller The White Crow, Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio starring Toni Servillo, Sweetness in the Belly from director Zeresenay Mehari starring Saoirse Ronan; Oliver Parker’s Swimming With Men, Wash Westmoreland’s Colette, starring Keira Knightley and Dominic West, and Sebastian Schipper’s Caravan starring Fionn Whitehead And Stéphane Bak.
ABOUT BBC FILMS
BBC Films is at the forefront of independent filmmaking in the UK, developing and co-producing around twelve films a year. In 2015 BBC Films was awarded the Michael Balcon BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Rose Garnett is the Director of BBC Films.
Upcoming films include six titles selected for the Toronto International Film Festival including Stephen Frears’ Victoria & Abdul to be released via Universal Pictures on 15th September; Andy Serkis’ directorial debut, Breathe starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, which is the opening night film of this year’s BFI London Film Festival and will be released in the UK by STXinternational on 27th October; The Children Act featuring Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci and On Chesil Beach, based on Ian McEwan’s Booker Prize shortlisted novel, with Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle.
Recent and current releases include Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest starring Gemma Arterton and Sam Claflin, William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth starring rising star Florence Pugh, Sean Foley’s Mindhorn co-written by and starring Julian Barratt and Simon Farnaby, Hope Dickson Leach’s The Levelling, Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House starring Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson and Steve Cantor’s documentary Dancer.
Their latest award-winning and nominated films include Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, which won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film and was the winner of the 2016 Cannes Palme d’Or, Mick Jackson’s Denial, BAFTA Award nominee for Outstanding British Film and Florence Foster Jenkins starring Oscar and BAFTA Award nominee Meryl Streep and BAFTA Award nominee Hugh Grant.
Their films in post-production include Yardie, Idris Elba’s directorial debut and Stan & Ollie starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as the iconic comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.
BBC Films’ eclectic back catalogue includes Brooklyn, The Lady in the Van, Mr Holmes, Far from the Madding Crowd, Pride, Saving Mr. Banks, Philomena, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, My Week with Marilyn, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Jane Eyre, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Made in Dagenham, An Education, In the Loop, Fish Tank, My Summer of Love, Truly Madly Deeply, and Billy Elliot.