Young Smolensk filmmaker wins trip to Hollywood

Nikolay Azarov, a young director from the western Russian city of Smolensk, has won the chance to travel Hollywood, after he won the “My Hollywood” category at the “Koroche” Russian Short Film Festival.

Azarov will visit Paramount Pictures and Universal, and his winning short film Sister of Mercy will be shown on the Paramount Channel in Russia.

“This is my first experience making a fiction film. The piece is based on a Sergio Aragonés comic [...]. We filmed for three days in our friends’ apartment, but used storyboards and changed the scenery to make something high quality. I want to say a big thank you to the organisers for this chance. Viewers all over the country will see my work, and I’ll also be able to go to Hollywood — this will certainly inspire new projects,” said the young filmmaker.

“The work of this novice film director will coexist with the masterpieces of Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese and others,” stated the festival organisers.

The “Koroche” Russian Short Film Festival took place from 21 to 23 August in Kaliningrad. The special “My Hollywood” category was set up by the Paramount Channel and Rostelecom and featured 120 films from all over Russia.