Akhtem Seitablaev, Oleksiy Tritenko

Source: Yuri Korol 

Akhtem Seitablaev, Oleksiy Tritenko

Canadian outfits Apollo Pictures and FirstGen Entertainment have lined up their next feature project, Hell Is Empty All The Demons Are Here, about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It will begin filming in Ukraine on February 24 – exactly one year after Russia invaded.

The Ukrainian-language feature is to be directed by Akhtem Seitablaev, a Ukrainian filmmaker of Crimean Tatar origin, whose previous credits include 2019 historical epic The Rising Hawk. Seitablaev is also serving in the Ukrainian armed forces.

It is based on actual events during the onset of the war, focusing on the interwoven experiences of locals. Ukrainian writer Kateryna Barager has penned the script, with Oleksiy Tritenko in the lead role, and Yuriy Korol as director of photography – who also worked on The Rising Hawk.

Chad Barager of Apollo Pictures and Ian Ihnatowycz of FirstGen Entertainment are to produce, having recently worked together on Alfonso Quijada’s post-apocalyptic thriller Tomorrow Before After. Darko Skulsky is a co-producer, and previously co-produced HBO mini-series Chernobyl.

This is Barager and Ihnatowycz’s third production in Ukraine, after 2017’s Bitter Harvest and 2020 horror mystery The Inheritence.