Acting Classes
Date:
December 15, 2022
Acting classes
Acting classes
by Sasha Shegai
East Wing | Kazakhstan
Documentary | 1st feature
Logline
Vera against her will moves to a nursing home. In attempt to adapt to new life she ends up getting a main role in a theatre play – a dream for other residents. Can Vera overcome her fears to become a local star?
Synopsis
Vera didn’t expect to spend the final years in a nursing home. Her son has set her up to end up there. Forced to comply to the institution rules, Vera goes through all the stages of acceptance. She finds a glimpse of hope in an amateur theatre at the nursing home, where a young director is staging Saint-Exupery’s “Little prince” with the home residents. Vera is older than most of the residents, but embodies an obvious contrast to them – yet unbroken by the system. She still tries to act as if there’s more good things ahead. Vera unintentionally crosses her friends’ roads. She starts a romantic relationship with a former inmate convicted for rape, who despite his worn-out appearance is still very popular among the female population of the home. Women envy Vera, call her a whore and condemn her at a community court. Besides, Vera gets the main part in the theatre production, and other actresses start to hate her. They try to depreciate Vera and demand to give the main part to one of the older residents. Vera is broken, and under the pressure of shame and uncertainty she gets ill. Nobody supports her. The only way out is to submit and follow the others – embitter and live only by memories of good old days. But Vera is not so hard to break! Having overcome her emotions, Vera puts on nice clothes, Learns her lines and stands up against those who tried to diminish her. Vera decided to prove that she’s right and impress the nursing home residents with her outstanding theatre perf
Director’s Profile
I’m Sasha Shegai, I’m 36. I graduated from the School of Film and Television in Paris in 2014, specializing in Film Directing. For the past 8 years I’ve been working as Art Director in numerous feature and documentary projects, both local and international. Our films have been nominated and won international prizes: “Horse Thieves” (2019) opened Busan Film Festival in 2019, short “History of Civilization” (2019) won at Locarno and participated in Toronto Film Festival, “Infinity” TV series screened on Canal+. Before the film school, I worked as a journalist making important social issues visible to the public. Back then I realized that the problems of third age, their unsettledness, their irrelevance to the contemporary society evokes my inner pain. And having acquired life and professional experience, now I’m finally ready to share this theme and my vision with public.
Company Profile
Yulia Kim (East Wind)
Producer’s filmography:
2022: Last Screening – a short film by Darezhan Omirbayev – Locarno IFF – Corti d’autore
2022: Scheme – by Farkhat Sharipov – GRAND PRIX of Berlinale Generation 14+
2021: Poet by Darezhan Omirbayev – BEST DIRECTOR at Tokyo IFF, Berlinale Forum
2020: 18 KiloHertz by Farkhat Sharipov – GRAND PRIX of Warsaw IFF, Best Youth Film of Cottbus IFF
2019: Horse Thieves. Roads of Time by YerlanNurmukhambetov and Lisa Takeba – Busan IFF Opening Film 2019, Tokyo IFF, Göteborg IFF.
2018: The Secret of a Leader by Farkhat Sharipov – GRAND PRIX of Moscow IFF, NETPAC Award at Aimanov IFF in Almaty
Yevgenia Moreva (CatNip)
Selected Filmography
2015: The bird sings with its fingers by Mila Fakhurdinova, short film, Kazakhstan
2019: History of Civilization by Zhannat Alshanova, short film, WINNER – PARDINO D”ARGENTO, Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland, Official Selection Clermont-Ferrand, France, Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival, Canada
2020: Qash by Aisultan Suitor, feature film,
Infiniti by Thierry Poiraud, Tv Series Canal +, Kazakhstan, France, Ukraine, 2021
2022:Mountain Onion by Eldar Shibanov, Biennale College Cinema, Venice Film Festival