Finnish producer and director Diana Ringo has released the official trailer for the film “1984”. This is the first film adaptation of Orwell’s novel in Russian language. The premiere is scheduled for summer 2023.

George Orwell is one of the most influential authors in human history, and his novel “1984” is a warning of dangers of social conformity and the possible rise of totalitarian police state. In 1984, Michael Radford directed the last film adaptation of the novel.

Plot:

The film shows the gloomy future of mankind – a totalitarian state, where the almighty and mysterious Big Brother is at the head of the state. This is a de-humanized society of total control, disinformation. Hatred of the enemies of the people is being cultivated, art and independent thinking are being destroyed. The protagonist is a mathematician who has devoted himself to science. His life changes dramatically when he meets a girl from the art department. From her, he learns that there is a Resistance that is preparing a coup d’état. He is faced with a choice – to join the resistance or betray his members.

Director Diana Ringo:
“I read Orwell’s novel in my youth, and have long wanted to film it. Now people in many countries rediscover this novel, consider it from different points of view. I wanted to give my own interpretation. The film also contains references to Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel “We” which greatly influenced Orwell’s work. If we follow the development of the plot in both books, we can see that they are similar in many ways. I did not want to make a 100% accurate adaptation of “1984”, I decided to rethink the novel from the perspective of today. Alienation, isolation, loneliness, and the enslavement of man are important themes of my film. It was also important for me to create interesting images and an impressive musical score. I wrote all the music for the film myself. My film has a strong message for anyone who thinks total suppression of the society will lead to permanent authoritative rule. The harder the government oppress citizens, the more resistance is bred.

The cast includes:
Aleksandr Obmanov, a young actor from Volgograd, plays the role of the mathematician protagonist. He played earlier in Diana Ringo’s previous film “Quarantine”.

Alexey Sharanin, a popular actor, musician and TV presenter, plays the author of Newspeak, a language whose vocabulary shrinks every year.

One of the most sought-after male models in Russia, Alexei Shamaev, plays the role of the television announcer in the film. This is his film debut.

Filming began in the summer of 2022 in Moscow.

Cast: Aleksandr Obmanov, Diana Ringo, Alexey Sharanin, Vladislav Kuvitsyn, Sergey Budanov, Anton Biryukov, Sergey Nikitin, Vladimir Ivany, Alexey Shamaev, Ilya Droznin and others. The music for the film was written by the director of the film, Diana Ringo.

The previous film by Diana Ringo is the anti-utopia “Quarantine” (2021) starring Anatoly Bely, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. The film was a success at various international film festivals and was a non-English language entry at the 2022 Golden Globes.