"Lights! Camera! Action!" is heard on the set of the biographical drama dedicated to the legend, People's Poet of Belarus Yanka Kupala. The four-episode film directed by Vladimir Yankovsky “While The Sky is There”, which has been awarded the status of a national project, will tell about the life and the amazing artistic destiny of the Belarusian poet against the backdrop of the dramatic events of the 20th century.
The biographical drama about Yanka Kupala, the shooting of which started on 27 July at the site of the National Film Studio Belarusfilm in Smolevichi District, promises to make history in the Belarusian cinema and become one of the major works in the career of the Yankovsky cinema dynasty. Vladimir Yankovsky is the son of Rostislav Yankovsky. By the way, he directed 14 movies and television series, 700 music videos and over 50 episodes of television satirical/comedy short film series Fitil.
The pre-production started long before the shooting. In early July casting was held to choose actors for leading and supporting roles. A big team is working on the movie now, including scriptwriter Alyona Kalyunova, camera director Yuri Bekhterev and art director Natalia Navoyenko. According to Vladimir Yankovsky, the team thoroughly studied the biography of Yanka Kupala, so the script is based on real facts, as well as letters and reminiscences of contemporaries of the great poet.
A team of young actors consisting of Loran Lutskov, Efim Tsuba and Timur Nedzved faced quite a challenging task – to reenact the childhood years of Vanya Lutsevich (the real name of the poet) in the village of Vyazynka near Minsk. A dozen of shots - and the first scene is ready. After that Vladimir Yankovsky smashes a symbolic plate signed by the film crew against a camera support.
It is already known that the film will be shot in Vilnius, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Minsk and its suburbs. With the filming currently well underway, the main question for now is who is going to play the adult Yanka Kupala.
Yanka Kupala biopic filming in pictures!