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October

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"Nobody knew who she was, how she evaded the police or what were her intentions"

"OCTOBER" was my first narrative short film and it's based on the story of Olga Romanova.

Olga was 26-years-old when, in October 2002, she put her life at risk by entering the Dubrovka's Theatre in Moscow (Russia) during the "Nord Ost" attack.
Olga was the only one who,  shortly after the police had blocked all access, managed to bypass security seal and access the theatre on her own.
Olga then proceeded to confront 40 Chechen terrorists who where holding, under the threat of blowing up the theatre, more than 900 hostages inside.

What happened at the Dubrovka Theatre in 2002 has become part of our collective memory.
Everyone (if you're 30 or older) remembers those days where the atention of world turned to Moscow, with the news keeping us updated, almost by the minute, of everything that was happening.

In my case, there's an image that has been engraved, forever, in my memory:
The first night, with all access to the surroundings of the theatre blocked off by the police, a television camera captured the image of a young woman with her back to us, only a blurred silhouette, walking determinedly through a completely empty plaza towards the theatre doors.

That blurry silhouette, that image, started everything for me:
Who was that person? What did she want? What did she do once inside the theatre? What was her name? What happened? Why did she do it?

If you pay attention to the poster we made for the shortfilm, you will be able to see that silhouette.
In this case the silhouette is walking towards us, because in "OCTOBER" we are going to meet Olga.

Notes

"OCTOBER" was selected, among other festivals:

  • Málaga Film Festival
  • Huesca International Film Festival
  • FILMETS International Film Festival
  • CERVANTES INSTITUTE - "The New Talent in Spanish Short Films" - screened at:
    • Berlin
    • Moscow
    • Brussels
    • Rabat
    • Tetouán

We wrote, shot and post produced "OCTOBER" in Poland.
The artistic and technical crew was made up of professionals from nationailities as: Poland, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Austria and India.

We created this short film with the intention of placing the viewer in Olga's shoes.
This concept, taken to the extreme, is the reason why we decided to shoot the whole film from the point of view of our main character.
We become Olga, we see the world through her eyes.

Making this short film involved a great amount of research, pre production, rehearsals, logistics and organization from each of the teams and proffesionals involved in the process (actors, technicians, stunt men, art, wardrobe, sound, extras, locations, etc...)
We only had two days of shooting: 45 people in our technical crew, more than 200 extras for the interior of the theatre and another 50 for the exterior, an art team that transformed the theatre and the surrounding streets, cars with spotlights to simulate police sirens, a group of 30 stunt men dressed in full military equipments and fully armed or with the dressess that we designed and sew by hand for the "Black Widows".

In "OCTOBER" we had the opportunity to work with an impressive cast.
Paula Bak as Olga Romanova, a young actress with plenty of experience, whose involvement, talent and know-how marked a before and after in the production of this short film.
For the other two main roles we had the privilege of working with Anna Nehrebecka and Marcin Bosak, two of the most awarded and recognized actors in Poland.

  • Main Cast:
    • Olga Romanova - Paula Bak
    • Madre de Olga - Anna Nehrebecka
    • Terrorist Leader - Marcin Bosak
  • Main Crew:
    • Screenwriter & Director - Gon Caride
    • Producer: Jakub Gogolewski
    • Associate Producers - Gon Caride | Marcin Luczaj | Jacqueline Garstecka
    • Cinemarographer - Oleksander Podznyakov
    • Editor - Zbigniew Stencel
    • Sound Design - Artur Walaszczyk
    • Production Design & Art Director - Kamila Psciuk
    • Wardrobe Design - Anna Karolina Teruzzi & Kamila Psciuk
    • Production Manager - Katarzyna Walas
    • Set Manager - Thomasz Hagström
    • Colorist - Ajit Krishnamoorthy
    • 1st Assistant Director - Barnaba Bonati
    • 2nd Assistant Director - Emilia Sniegoska
    • Make Up - Malgorzata Pol
    • Military Advisors - Mikolaj Kepinski & Lukasz Graczyk
    • Production Companies - Fuciños | PWSFTviT | Compendium Productions
  • Special Thanks to:
    • Spanish Embassy in Poland
    • PWSFTviT (Polish National Film School)
    • Theatre Wirelki Lodz

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