Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has boarded “Forever-Forever” (“Nazavzhdy-Nazavzhdy”), Ukrainian filmmaker Anna Buryachkova‘s feature directing debut, ahead of its world premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra competition.
After transferring from a downtown high school, Tonia (Alina Cheban) befriends a group of badass youngsters, trying to find protection from the people from her past and a place she truly belongs. They spend time together, roaming around Kyiv’s post-socialist suburbs, having fun and getting in trouble. Soon, Tonia falls in love with Zhurik (played by Zachary Shadrin, whose credits include HBO’s “Industry” and Apple TV+’s “Little America”). When she also falls for Sania (Arthur Aliiev), she finds herself tangled up in an alluring secret love triangle. But Tonia’s painful past still haunts her, challenging this newfound friendship and romance. Will she be able to find her own path or lose herself in this new controversial relationship?
Buryachkova stated: “This film is a love song to the lost teenagers of the late 1990s who grew up amidst the ruins of the Soviet regime and were told one rule: if no one loves you, you won’t survive. Seeking love and validation in someone else’s eyes, my generation compromised on the abuse and injustice, just to get more attention. Being a teenager in general means that every bit of existence is only here and now, which means forever. Every love is forever, every relationship is forever, every drama is forever. So now, being adults, we have to finally grow up and realize that the only validation and love we need is our own. Such understanding always requires the acceptance of loneliness and embracing responsibility for one’s own life.”
“Forever-Forever” is produced by Natalia Libet, Vitalii Sheremetiev, Oleksii Zgonik and Lyuba Knorozok for Ukrainian outlet Digital Religion (DGTL RLGN), in coproduction with Rinskje Raap and Reinier Selen for Rinkel Film of the Netherlands.
Buryachkova was born in 1982 in Kyiv, where she began her career in films, music videos, TV commercials and social campaigns in 2012. Her work has been recognized at numerous international festivals, including Berlin Music Video Awards, Berlin Fashion Films, Grand OFF Poland and Cannes Lions’ Social Campaign Program. She developed the idea for “Forever-Forever” and started writing the script in collaboration with “Falling” director Marina Stepanska while in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Principal photography was completed in Kyiv just two months before the city faced the Russian full-scale war against Ukraine. After that, the film’s materials were evacuated from Kyiv to Amsterdam where the co-producers and post-production partners joined the film’s team.
During its development and production, “Forever-Forever” was showcased in various international markets. It received a Jury’s Special Mention and the Screen Brussels Co-Production Award at Ukrainian Films Now at the Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film, and Lithuanian Film Center Award at Coming Soon Meeting Point-Vilnius in 2022. The film was also developed within the MIDPOINT Institute Editing Room.
Libet said: “This is my second collaboration with Pluto Film, following Berlinale Crystal Bear winner ‘Stop-Zemlia’ in 2021. and I very much look forward to cherishing a new film with them again. Together with Anna, we started with the dream of making films together during the first wave of COVID-19, and despite all the production and financing challenges we have faced ever since, we are now releasing our film alongside a great team of friends and creators we have gathered over the years.”
Pluto Film’s CEO Daniela Cölle said: “We were immediately hooked by this universal story of the young and rebellious and are excited to work with the inspiring director Anna Buryachkova while at the same time continuing our collaboration with producer Natalia Libet. Although ‘Forever-Forever’ is set in Kyiv in the 1990s, it doesn’t feel nostalgic but very much urgent and now. Being raw and emotional at the same time, this is a film about emancipation and finding yourself in a world that has just crumbled down – similar to what we experience today, in Ukraine and beyond. With its combination of visually striking storytelling and honest depiction of teenage life, we are confident that it engages a wide range of audiences worldwide.”
Pluto Film’s lineup also includes “Empty Nets” by Behrooz Karamizade (Grand Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, 2023), “Sister & Sister” by Kattia G. Zúñiga (SXSW and Best Latin American Film at Malaga Film Festival, 2023), “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan (Berlinale, 2023), “100 Seasons” by Giovanni Bucchieri (Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam, 2023) and Michal Blaško’s “Victim” (Venice, Toronto, Busan, 2022).
