Moscow, December 19, 2024
At Cinema Park on Mosfilm, HHG Film Company’s CEO and producer Vladislav Pasternak, along with anthropologist and science popularizer Stanislav Drobyshevsky, announced the commencement of their collaborative work on the film “Beast and Fire”. Set approximately 45,000 years ago, the film will depict an era when two species of sentient humans — Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals — coexisted on Earth for the last time.
Stanislav Drobyshevsky will write the foundation for the script and a companion book, and will also serve as an associate producer of the film. Vladislav Pasternak will act as the project's producer, overseeing the creation and distribution of the film. “Beast and Fire” aims to be the first feature film about the life of primal humans that is fully aligned with modern scientific data.
The contract between Pasternak and Drobyshevsky was signed on December 15 in St. Petersburg, with the official announcement of their collaboration taking place on December 19 at Mosfilm, following a special screening of Mel Gibson's “Apocalypto”. Post-screening, a discussion ensued around the cult film, where Mayan history and civilization expert Dmitry Belyaev critiqued the film, while paleoanthropologist Stanislav Drobyshevsky defended it. This discussion served as an excellent prelude to the announcement of the new project. The debate was moderated by Kristina Egorova, the creator of the “Deconstruction” project, within which Drobyshevsky has analyzed numerous films related to his scientific work.
The public movement for the popularization of science, “Projects of Stanislav Drobyshevsky”, is celebrating its fifth anniversary. Engaging scientists as partners and co-authors is a rare occurrence in modern cinema. One notable example is Christopher Nolan's “Interstellar”, where physicist and astronomer Kip Thorne served as an executive producer. The approach used in “Interstellar” will also guide the “Beast and Fire” project: ensuring that nothing in the film contradicts accepted anthropological and biological data or reliable knowledge about the era, while still allowing for dramatization and artistic license to achieve the best emotional and artistic impact.
“I have been contemplating a film about primitive humans for many years,” said Vladislav Pasternak. “The challenge was to achieve both novelty and authenticity. ‘Beast and Fire’ promises to be a unique project — a genuine journey 45,000 years into the past. We believe this film will be a significant event in both cinema and science, relevant to every person on the planet. No one in Russia has attempted something like this before, and it is in our country, in Khotylevo, where the world's oldest Neanderthal drawing was discovered — a sensation of which our scientific partner Stanislav Drobyshevsky constantly speaks out.”
“The idea has been around for a while, but now we have people who are truly ready to invest in it,” said Stanislav Drobyshevsky after the discussion. “Yes, we plan to write a script and make a film about ancient people. No spoilers yet, but the concept is already in place. It's crucial to avoid becoming a target of criticism. I've been writing this story for just three days, and I already understand that for beauty and emotional depth, some artistic liberties are necessary. If we strive for complete authenticity, it might become very dull and tedious. So, be prepared to critique me.”
Primitive society is a relatively rare theme on screen. Notable films about the Stone Age include Jean-Jacques Annaud's “Quest for Fire” (1981), Jacques Malaterre's “Ao: The Last Hunter” (2010), and Mel Gibson's “Apocalypto” (2006), set in the 14th century. Other films, which lean more towards fantasy than historical reconstruction, include Roland Emmerich's “10,000 BC” (2008), Albert Hughes's “Alpha” (2018), and the classic “One Million Years B.C.” (1966), which has no scientific basis.
Vladislav Pasternak is a producer, director, and CEO of HHG Film Company, a boutique production and distribution company based in St. Petersburg. He is known for his debut films such as “Nearest and Dearest”, “Censor”, “Zemun”, and “Mint Gingerbread”, as well as a series of controversial theatrical releases that have won awards at Cannes, Berlin, and other international and Russian festivals. He is also an author of articles on film industry issues and a public expert in the field.
Stanislav Drobyshevsky is an anthropologist and science popularizer. He has a degree of a Candidate of Biological Sciences and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Lomonosov Moscow State University. He is the scientific editor of the educational portal Antropogenez.ru, an author of scientific and popular science books, textbooks, and monographs, and is a published contributor to scientific journals. Additionally, he runs his personal YouTube channel and is the founder of the “Public Movement for the Popularization of Science of Stanislav Drobyshevsky.”
