Currently in post-production is action adventure epic, The Rising Hawk. Pairing up are directors Akhtem Seitablayev and John Wynn, hailing from FILM.UA Group following its completion of shoot over the summer.
Yaroslav Voytseshek and Rich Ronat penned the script setting the story in 1241 when a band of mountain hunters wage war against an imperial Mongol ruler and his army pillaging their way to the Carpathian Mountains. Production took place over the summer in the Carpathians and Kyiv (Ukraine). Seitablayev was on hand for the film’s presentation earlier this month at the American Film Market with Jeff Rice among the film’s international producers.
“Thanks to our cooperation with American partners, we had a chance to tell the whole world this incredible heroic story by Ivan Franko, to showcase the beauty of Ukrainian Carpathians well beyond the country’s borders, and to enable the audience to learn more about our history and old traditions, to find out about culture and everyday life, to hear real Ukrainian music, to ‘infect’ not only Ukrainian but also Western viewers with our country,” said Seitablaev. “In the script, we have preserved all the main messages put in by the classical author in his work, namely the ideas of civil society, unity, self-dedication, and integrity.”
“I was very impressed when I read the script for the first time. Why have I never heard about it? This is an incredible story! I believe that this project has significant international potential as the story of a small Ukrainian community fighting the most powerful army of the world for its freedom and independence is close to each of us and will surely win the hearts of the audience all over the world,” said Rice.
“This is the first film with this large and strong international cast and crew team on FILM.UA Group’s distribution. We have represented The Rising Hawk at the recent world content markets, and have noted the strong interest from our partners and potential buyers to the project. So here, at the AFM, as now we have film’s first international teaser with us, we believe that a strong interest will transform into the first huge deals,” says Igor Storchak, CEO Distribution, FILM.UA Group.
The Rising Hawk marks a fourth outing for Seitablayev, with Wynn signaling this, his first feature project at the front end of a long raft of shortfilms. Wynn first came on my radar several years ago with sci-fi action short, Escape.
The Rising Hawk lines up a notable cast that principally lists Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Last Rampage), Tommy Flanagan (Braveheart, Gladiator, Sin City), Poppy Drayton (The Little Mermaid), Alison Doody (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, A View to a Kill), Andriy Isayenko (Cyborgs) and Oleh Voloschenko (The Stronghold).
