Daria Balabanova/AA Akhmatova, Portrait of K. Petrov-Vodkin

He learned about the preparations for the filming of the drama “Roses of Modigliani”: a biographical tape will tell about events from the life of Anna Akhmatova. Daria Balabanova will play Akhmatova, and Alexander Kuznetsov will play Gumilyov.

At the center of the plot is the poet’s husband, poet Nikolai Gumilyov, and the couple’s honeymoon trip to Paris, where they meet people like Modigliani and Picasso. Akhmatova and Gumilyov were married from 1910 to 1918. During this trip to France, he saw the poet Amedeo Modigliani only a few times, but sympathy arose between them and a long correspondence began. In the future, Anna again went to Paris and saw Modigliani, sketched her portraits and dedicated poems to him.

Nikolai Gumilyov and Anna Akhmatova with their son Leo. 1915

The tape was shot by director Elena Khazanova, known for the films “Petrushka Syndrome”, “Mistresses”, “One Breath”.

Daria Balabanova first starred in the TV series Karamora by Danila Kozlovsky in early 2022. Daria is often mistaken for a relative of director Alexei Balabanov, but these are only namesakes. The role of Nikolai Gumilyov is played by Alexander Kuznetsov, who appeared in this year’s Fantastic Beasts: The Mysteries of Dumbledore and entered Russia’s “30 under 30” Forbes rating. The rest of the cast is still unknown.

Daria Balabanova/Alexander Kuznetsov

The Modigliani biography, among other films, was presented at the Film Foundation’s presentation this week. Its announced budget is 250 million rubles, its creators ask for 170 million from the Cinema Fund. There are no plans to shoot in Paris, instead the shooting location will be Budapest. The Hungarian Film Foundation is also involved in the project. Presumably, the premiere will take place in 2023.