"Chernovik" (Draft) is a 2018 Russian science fiction film directed by Sergey Mokritsky, based on the novel of the same name by Sergey Lukyanenko. The lead roles were played by Evgeniy Tsyganov, Yuliya Peresild, and Severiya Yanushauskayte.[1] Part of the filming took place in Nizhny Novgorod: the Nizhny Novgorod subway stood in for the Moscow metro.[2]

About the film

The film tells the story of a young man who discovers in himself the ability to travel between parallel worlds. The director promised to show an "otherworldly Moscow."[1] Most of the filming took place in Moscow.[1]

Filming in Nizhny Novgorod

The scenes in the Moscow metro were originally planned to be shot in the capital, but it proved impossible to obtain permission in the busy Moscow subway. The film crew went to Nizhny Novgorod, where the Nizhny Novgorod metro played the role of the Moscow one.[2] To create the necessary look:

  • the line maps in the train cars were replaced with Moscow ones;[2]
  • the doorway in one of the cars was specially dismantled, for the scene in which the hero passes through the glass;[2]
  • employees of the Nizhny Novgorod metro were used as extras.[2]

Release and reception

The film was released in 2018.[1] According to the publication Argumenty i Fakty — Nizhny Novgorod, the announcement of filming in the Nizhny Novgorod metro attracted the attention of residents even before the premiere.[1]

Filming began in Moscow in November 2016; in the plot, the action takes place in Moscow in 2005.[3]

The film was produced by Kinopoisk; if it succeeded, the creators planned to release a sequel — an adaptation of the second part of Lukyanenko's duology, "Working on the Mistakes," under the title "Fair Copy."[4]

The film's running time is 116 minutes.[5]

Sources

  1. nn.aif.ru — Russian Hollywood. Why Are Moscow and Siberia Filmed in Nizhny Novgorod?
  2. vokrugsveta.ru — "Zhmurki," "Metod," and "The Barber of Siberia": How Nizhny Novgorod Became Russian Hollywood
  3. KP — Nizhny Novgorod — Filming began in Moscow in November 2016. In the plot, the action takes place in Moscow in 2005.
  4. Interfax — The lead role of Kirill, a computer game designer, was played by Nikita Volkov; Yevgeny Tsyganov played his rival — a boss courting the same girl.
  5. prdisk.ru — The film's running time is 116 minutes.