Future of Yakut cinema: Sinet Sakhawood finances 12 projects

This year, the Sinet Sakhawood film and animation development project of the Sinet Spark Foundation financed 11 Yakut directors and producers in creating film projects. The total amount of grants amounted to 11 million 700 thousand rubles.

The winners are Nikandr Fedorov, Eduard Novikov, Konstantin Timofeev, Stepan Burnashev, Sakhamin Trofimov, Svetlana Romanova, Innokenty Khandy, Nikolai Koryakin, Duolan Luginov, Vladislav Unarov, and Radmila Kononova.

The selection process

Sinet Sakhawood, one of the projects of the Sinet Spark Foundation, has existed for three years. This year, a total of 46 applications were received, of which only 17 projects were selected. At the final stage, each director defended their future film in front of a small competition committee. As a result, 12 projects received support. The awarding ceremony was held in the Historical Park "Russia - my history."

There was also a screening of the draft version of the film "Ogo saas" by Nikandr Fedorov together with the Historical Park Film Club.

What projects received sponsorship

Two projects of Nikandr Fedorov "Ogo saas" and "Khapsyhyy" got the most amount of money. 25-year-old Nikandr Fedorov is known to a wide audience for his debut film "Dance with Me" which was released in March of this year. The film paid off at the box office despite the pandemic.

"Khapsyhyy" (“Unbroken")

Plot summary. A sports drama based on the story of Egor Neimokhov. The boy Nyurgun dreams of becoming a champion in freestyle wrestling. Growing up, he realizes his dream - he is a world champion, he has a wonderful family and good friends. He is a national hero and everyone adores him. But having received all the sports awards, Nyurgun changes for the worst. His life is going downhill. The prototype of the main character is Vyacheslav Karpov, a legend of Yakut sports, the first champion of the USSR from Yakutia in freestyle wrestling among young men.

Vyacheslav Karpov’s archive photo

Grant size: 2.5 million rubles
Release date: 2023

"Ogo saas" ("How to fix a bicycle")

The film has already been shot, post-production is underway, 500 thousand are needed additionally for voice acting.

Plot summary. Saryal's parents give the boy a long-awaited bicycle, and on the first day he breaks it. Saryal is afraid to confess to his parents, believing that he let them down, betrayed their trust. Faced with the first big problem in his life, the boy decides that it is unsolvable, and runs away from home into the woods. And then the most interesting part begins...

Film screenshot

Grant size: 500 000 rubles
Release date: January 2022

"On the Edge of the World" by Eduard Novikov

Eduard Novikov also received an impressive sum for his historical drama "At the End of the World." He is one of the best directors of Yakutia, thanks to whom the mass audience in Russia learned about the Yakut cinema boom. His film "The Lord Eagle" made a splash at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2018, received rave reviews from critics, and the main award. His first director’s work also did not go unnoticed, winning the hearts of the Yakut audience back in 2014. The touching drama about singer Alexander Samsonov-Aiyy Uola became the main hit of the year, earning more than ten million rubles at the box office. Now he is preparing to shoot his third project "At the End of the World."

Plot summary. A historical drama about baptism in Yakutia based on the novel by Nikolai Leskov "At the End of the World". Bishop Ambrose travels to the North with an Orthodox mission to preach Christianity to the indigenous population - the Tungus and Yakuts, baptize as many people as possible. After a pagan saves him from death during a storm in the tundra, the bishop learns what good deeds the unbaptized "savages" are capable of.

Storyboard of the film "At the end of the world"

Grant size: 2 million rubles.
Release date: April 27, 2023.

Animation film "The old woman Beiberikeen with five cows" by Konstantin Timofeev

Konstantin Timofeev has already received his third grant from Sinet Sakhawood. This time he plans to shoot a cartoon based on the Yakut fairy tale.

Every inhabitant of Yakutia knows this good fairy tale, but there is still no feature animated film based on it. The story of the old woman Beiberikeen was passed from mouth to mouth and has reached our days. The director believes she is a unique heritage of the Yakut people. "The fairy tale has a happy end, which means we give the viewer good emotions and faith in bright future," he says.

Cartoon sketch

Grant size: 1.5 rubles.
Release date: unknown

"Khara Togoi" by Nikita Novgorodov and Sakhamin Trofimov

One million rubles were received by director Nikita Novgorodov and producer Sakhamin Trofimov for the film "Khara Togoi." Filming will begin in August 2022 in the Tomponskiy district.

Plot summary. The story of a little man living in dreams of a rich life, where he is a leader and people follow him. Until the age of 45, he made no effort to fulfill his dream, waiting for a miracle from the outside. And when such a moment comes, a greedy and ruthless man wakes up in him, very far from his dreamy image. What sacrifices is he willing to make and where will this path lead him?

Teaser screenshot

Grant size: 1 million rubles
Release date: 2024

"Aita" by Stepan Burnashev

The famous director Stepan Burnashev has already shot his 13th film. He needs a million rubles for post-production.

Plot summary. A real tragic story happened in one of the villages of Yakutia. By chance, a police officer Afanasy becomes a suspect in a serious crime. Locals are ready to commit a lynching trial. Investigator Sirditov faces a difficult task. On the one hand, he realizes that such a crime should not go unpunished, but on the other hand, he understands that his job is to find out all the details of what happened.

Movie poster

Grant size: 1 million rubles.
Release date: January 2022.

"In crimson color" by Innokenty Khandy

The author of the project, Innokenty Khandy, was stuck at home during the pandemic and decided to write a book. Then he remade it for the script, and it turned out to be a feature science fiction film about an irresponsible attitude to nature and about what can happen during the fires that cover our republic from year to year.

Plot summary. A forest fire is approaching a remote village where there is no communication. The entire population, capable of fighting the fire, comes to the defense of their village. After a while, a boy runs out of the forest and discovers that the village is empty, and he has lost his memory.

Teaser frame

Amount: one million rubles.
Release date: Autumn 2023.

In addition, four more projects received 500 thousand rubles each: Vladislav Unarov's mystical thriller "Oyuur Ustun", the interactive film "Ieyekhsiti keletii" by Radmila Kononova, the documentary "Voyage" by Svetlana Romanova, the comedy "Timir" by Nikolai Koryakin. Duolan Luginov received 200 thousand rubles for new episodes of the animated series "Igirechees kulunchuktar".

The films that the foundation has already financed

During the three years of the film and animation development, the project "Sinet Sakhawood" has helped many directors. In the first year, six directors received financial support, two of them released a film. This is Dmitry Davydov with the triumphant "Scarecrow", which was the first from Yakutia to participate in the Kinotavr film festival and won the main prize. The film was released widely in Russia and on digital platforms. The Foundation then allocated Davydov a million rubles. But the picture earned almost 12 million in cinemas alone.

The second, no less interesting project is "Private Cheerin", to which the foundation allocated 500 thousand rubles for postproduction. The military drama, which was filmed at a dacha in Yakutsk, is very popular on digital platforms, the rating on Kinopoisk is 7.3.

Some films have already been shot, but have not yet appeared on the screen. This is the second part of Konstantin Timofeev's "The old woman Beiberikeen with five cows", which has been ready for a long time, but due to the pandemic, the director does not dare to release, and Marianna Skrybykina's "Khaar Kynat", which was recently reshot due to the replacement of the main character. We are still waiting for news from Alexey Romanov and Evgeny Osipov.

In 2020, the fund allocated 12 million rubles for nine projects. Of these, Dmitry Davydov received 5 million rubles for two projects: "Chicken Nest" and "Eder Saas". The films have been shot and are currently in post-production. Konstantin Timofeev used his 1.2 million rubles to shoot "Lookut uonna Nyurguhun", the film is being edited. Nyurgun Ivanov received a million to shoot the military drama "Zvezda", the film is still at the stage of writing the script. Tamara Obutova, who received 500 thousand for the filming of "Kate Marsden. Apokatastasis", reported that additional filming is underway in London, the picture will be ready by December 1.

Stepan Burnashev made the film "Sarsynnyny Syrsa" for his million, he e renamed it "Bihigi kyhymmyt" ("Our Winter") for the box office. The film is ready to be released.

Mikhail Lukachevskyi's film "Helicopter" is conquering film festivals and is due to be released in November of this year.

The animated film by Duolan and Aisen Luginov is going to be uploaded on YouTube.

Anastasia Borisova's documentary "Tuoi Khaia" has already been completed and participates in film festivals, however, under the title "The Secret of the Vilyuy reservoir".

What the directors will owe the foundation

Nothing but financial statements. The money should only be used for making films.

How to apply

Every year, Sinet Sakhawood starts accepting submissions on August 27, the Day of Russian Cinema and accepts them until the end of September. So you have time to prepare. Write, create, and dare.