Oleh Sentsov Sets English-Language Debut ‘Shining World’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and producer Denis Ivanov are teaming up again after their last collaboration, the ‘90s-set crime drama “Rhino,” premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons sidebar last year.The new feature, “Shining World,” centers on a mother and her young son living in a small American town in the 1960s.

Described by Ivanov as a “fairy tale” with echoes of Wes Anderson’s whimsical tone, it unspools in both the real world and in the imagination of its young protagonist after he learns an amusement park is being built nearby.“Shining World” was written by Sentsov while imprisoned on what his supporters insist were trumped-up charges after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Ivanov had originally intended to sell the script to provide a small windfall for Sentsov after his release – a suggestion the director quickly nixed. “Oleh was quite direct and said ‘No, my scripts belong to me.

I want to shoot my movies,’” said the producer. The duo began workshopping the script, sending correspondence back and forth through the prison system. (Despite the intervention of censors, Ivanov insisted it was more efficient than the Russian postal service.) It was an unorthodox but fruitful collaboration. “Between a director and producer, you don’t always have time to discuss basic questions” of plot and character, said Ivanov, adding drily, “Luckily, we had time to discuss the project in detail.”The contract for “Shining World” was signed within a month of Sentsov’s release, but the director already had two other feature films in the pipeline.