Little Vera
Short description
Little Vera follows a young woman who has just finished school and feels stuck in a provincial port town during the social upheavals of perestroika. Her life is dominated by drinking and family conflict, and her parents, absorbed in their own troubles, want her to follow the respectable path of her older brother Victor. Her meeting with Sergey, a student from a different background, becomes a turning point. The two come from different worlds and try to understand each other, though her restless search for love and a way out shapes the story.
The film was directed by Vasili Pichul from a screenplay by Mariya Khmelik, and it was produced by Gorky Film Studios in the Soviet Union. Natalya Negoda plays Vera, with Andrey Sokolov as Sergey, Yuriy Nazarov and Lyudmila Zaytseva as her parents, Aleksandr Negreba as Victor and Aleksandra Tabakova as Chistyakova. Twenty cast members are credited.
Released in October 1988, it runs 128 minutes and is classed as a drama with a romantic thread. On IMDb it holds 6.9 from about 2,300 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 5.9 from 54 votes. The wider IMDb sample points to a warmer reception there than the smaller audience on TMDB.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was shot in the city of Zhdanov, Ukrainian SSR (now the city of Mariupol, Ukraine).
- The film received numerous awards at international festivals: the Golden Hugo Grand Prix for Best Film at the 1988 Chicago International Film Festival, the Grand Special Jury Prize at the 1988 Montreal World Film Festival, the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1988 Venice Film Festival, the 'Côte Bleue' award at the 1989 International Film Festival in Troyes, the Grand Prix for Best Feature Film at the 1989 International Film Festival in Angers, among others.
- Irina Apeksimova was originally planned for the role of Vera, but she was cast in the film 'The Tower' instead.
- After the film's release, Natalya Negoda became a sex symbol.
- In terms of attendance, it ranks 24th among domestic films in the entire history of Soviet cinema distribution.
- The film became one of the most striking cinematic events of the late 1980s.
- The first Soviet film to depict a sexual act.
- One in five people in the USSR saw the film in theaters—a total of 56 million moviegoers.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
