Igor Tolstunov's Production Company («PROFIT») has begun filming the feature film «The Test». The plot is based on a real historical event: the test of the first hydrogen bomb, carried out in Kazakhstan in 1953. The film is directed and written by Pavel Chukhrai («The Driver for Vera», «The Thief»). The leading roles go to young actors Anvar Khalilulaev and Aizhan Baizakova. The cast also includes widely known actors Sergei Garmash («The Voroshilov Marksman», «12», «Hipsters», «Black Lightning» and others), Ingeborga Dapkunaite («The Night Seller», «Anna Karenina», «Seven Years in Tibet», «Burnt by the Sun»), Chulpan Khamatova («Luna Papa», «Sword-Bearer», «Good Bye, Lenin!», «Gaprastum»), Artem Tkachenko («Sword-Bearer», «Indigo»), Maria Golubkina («Moscow Heat», «Personal Number») and Anatoly Uzdensky («Closed Spaces», «Dumb Fat Rabbit»).
Most of the shoot will take place in Kazakhstan where, according to the script, the main action unfolds. On the Kazakh steppe the crew reconstructed a military testing ground where a replica of the tower used to raise the bomb and detonate it was built. In Moscow, more than 40 full-scale mock-ups of 1953 special equipment were prepared for the shoot and transported to Kazakhstan.
Part of the shoot will take place in Moscow. On two outdoor locations at Mosfilm, sets depicting a city with streets, houses and alleyways have been built. The story opens in 1950s Moscow.
«The project's budget is 400 million rubles. The picture is being co-produced with Kazakhfilm. It is planned for wide release in 2015. The film's distributor is the company Nashe Kino,» commented general producer Igor Tolstunov.