Russian Studio To Make True-crime Series With US Platform

Moscow, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Nov, 2020 ) :The Russian film studio behind the Oscar-nominated "Leviathan" on Monday announced a new true-crime television series that will be the first in Russia to be co-produced with a US platform.

"We are launching the first co-production in Russia with the US streaming platform Topic," Alexander Rodnyansky, the head of the Non-Stop Production company, told AFP.

"Frozen Land", an eight-part series, will be based on the true story of Dmitry Lebed, a serial killer who in 2019 was jailed for the murder and rape of at least 11 young women.

The story will be told through the eyes of a "woman who loved him and couldn't believe in his guilt", said Rodnyansky.

It is scheduled for release on Topic in 2022 and will be directed by Valeriya Gai Germanika, whose first feature film "Everybody Dies But Me" received the Special Mention in the Camera d'Or nomination at Cannes.

Non-Stop Production is behind several films by one of Russia's best known filmmakers, Andrei Zvyagintsev, including "Loveless" which won the Jury prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

Zvyagintsev's "Leviathan", also produced by Non-Stop Production, received the Best Screenplay award at Cannes in 2014, picked up a Golden Globe and was nominated for an academy Award.

The increasing popularity of streaming platforms both in Russia and around the world has been further fuelled by the introduction of lockdown measures to counter the coronavirus.

In recent years several companies have entered the streaming services market, including Topic in the United States and Canada market.

Topic is a subsidiary of the First Look Media company, which belongs to the French-American billionaire Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay.