‘The Rising Hawk’ premiere date announced at KYIV MEDIA WEEK

At “Film promotion and distribution: a win-win strategy” panel which took place on September 19 at KYIV MEDIA WEEK international mediaforum, leaders of Ukrainian production, distribution and television markets of Ukraine announced the premiere date for one of the largest film projects in the pipeline, a historical action film The Rising Hawk. Project producer Egor Olesov (Kinorob) announced that the film will be released in Ukraine in a year, on October 10, 2019.  

The general media partner of the film is Ukraina TV channel. The film based on the novella with the same title by Ivan Franko is released by a leading distributor for national cinema, Ukrainian Film Distribution. Such combination of market leaders adds a new dimension to the national release and will allow to involve sponsors and commercial partners in the project. The authors are counting on hitting a new record for national film viewing and plan to bring 700 thousand spectators to Ukrainian cinemas.   

“The Rising Hawk is a large signature film project which has all the chances to become a real breakthrough not only for the national film industry but also to demonstrate some results at the international market,” said Egor Olesov, film producer. “And we are happy that for the sake of the film’s success Ukrainian media market leaders have joined efforts: they are the biggest Ukrainian studio FILM.UA Group, the No. 1 TV channel Ukraina which will become a general media partner and broadcaster for the film, and the doubtless leader among national film distributors, Ukrainian Film Distribution.”

“Zakhar Berkut novella, its values and meanings – patriotism, protecting own home and family, personal freedom and responsibility, strong and real feelings – are very important for our self-identification, and they ring especially true for present times. The screening of one of the favorite and most popular works in Ukrainian literature will doubtlessly become the main film premiere of the coming year which we as the highest-ranking TV channel in the country will support with a wide-scale promotion campaign. I am convinced that our cooperation will help high-quality national cinema attract the widest audience,” said Viktoria Korogod, director at Ukraina TV channel. 

“We have all the reasons to believe that The Rising Hawk will become a signature event for Ukrainian cinema and one of the box office leaders in national film distribution,” said Andrey Dyachenko, director at UFD. 

The film is set in 1241. The Mongol horde lead by cruel khan Burunda moves west, destroying everything in its path. Reaching the Carpathian mountains, the troops camp right below. However, at night several local hunters, the Berkut brothers, secretly enter the camp and free the hostages. Consumed with rage, the khan decides to take revenge and destroy the Carpathian settlements. A traitor amongst the locals tells the Mongols about a secret passage inside the mountains. Nevertheless, a small group of mountain hunters lead by Zakhar Berkut has its own plan to stop the enemy horde once and for all. The film was directed by Akhtem Seitablayev and John Wynn. It is created with the support of Ukrainian State Film Agency in cooperation with Hollywood producers Jeff Rice, Raja Collins, and Yuriy Karnovsky representing Cinema Day film company (US). The script was written by Yaroslav Voytseshek and Rich Ronat.