On December 5, the drama directed by Natalya Nazarova “Lead Pencil”, that is the story of the struggle for human talent, goes to Russian distribution.
At the recent Russian Film Festival in Honfleur (France), the film received the Grand Prix, as well as the Prize for the Best Actress (Nadezhda Gorelova) and the Audience Award. In addition, in the summer at the Window to Europe 2019 film festival, the film went to the Special Jury Prize and the Diploma of Film Critics.
According to the plot, Antonina bursts into the measured life of a provincial town – proud, beautiful, courageous. Having found a job as a school drawing teacher, she learns that the whole city is kept in fear by the local bully and his older brother, a dangerous criminal. Residents pretend that their life is what it should be, trying not to lean out so as not to run into trouble. But Antonina is not ready to put up with this state of affairs in the city.
“This is a story about an incredible woman. Thanks to the strength of her spirit and her endurance, the world around is changing, and even a seemingly incorrigible, embittered teenager can suddenly become a friend to her. I don’t know of other similar films,” says film producer Denis Kovalevsky.
The idea of the film “Lead Pencil” came to Natalia Nazarova for a very long time.
“I wanted to make a film about how, with the help of a lead pencil, such an ordinary-looking object, a person tries to change the world for the better,” says the director and screenwriter, who herself draws, and admits that she really likes graphics.
The main roles were played by actors Nadezhda Gorelova and Vladimir Mishukov.
Nadezhda Gorelova played the art teacher Antonina. It is she who becomes the very ray of light in the dark kingdom.
“I wrote the script specifically for this actress. There is an incredible inner light and purity in Nadezhda Gorelova, they cannot be embodied thanks only to acting talent. These qualities are either there (inside a person) or not,” says Natalya Nazarova.
The project also involves young non-professional actors Kirill Veselov, the performer of the role of the gifted Dima Dyomkin, and Alexander Kolchevsky, who appeared as a bully Mishka Ponomaryov.
The film was shot in the city of Segezha in Karelia, and it is not a coincidence: there are not only unique landscapes that are breathtaking, but there is also a pulp and paper mill, which served as an ideal texture for the film. Initially, the location was offered by cameraman Andrei Naydenov, and, seeing the extraordinary nature of the Russian North live, the filmmakers fully supported him.
Ru-Main, 02.12.2019
