Dawn Chorus

World War III has been going on for 70 years. The Soloist, a lonely traumatized by military service man with a supernatural gift to reproduce the past with sound, goes on a journey together with the Teacher, who asks him to create a memory that never existed – her dead son’s return from war.

World War III has been going on for 70 years. The Soloist, a lonely traumatized by military service 35-year old man with a supernatural gift to recognize and reproduce people's memories with sound, goes on a journey together with the Teacher, a 55-year old woman from a village, who asks him to create a memory that never existed – her dead son’s return from war. Her persistence blends with his desperate desire to recollect his own memories. Together, they embark on a journey to fulfill their needs while overcoming the obstacles of the war-torn world.

Director's note:
Dawn Chorus depicts the consequences of what we all fear now – World War III. With the help of the dystopian setting, it is possible to convey ideas that are balanced for both Ukraine and the entire world. Ideas of family restoration, preservation of memory, mutual assistance, importance of an individual in history. It is about how one can find courage to stop being a prisoner of the past and start living here and now.
Dawn Chorus is a dystopian black-and-white survival drama wrapped in road movie form. The journey of a man and a woman makes them confront the cruel war-torn world.
The story has a parable form and builds with chapters. That’s how we bring Dawn Chorus closer to a myth. That’s why the main characters do not have names, but are referred to according to their social role: the Soloist, the Teacher, and so on. The same with locations. This form gives us an understanding that such a story can happen anywhere and with anyone.

Producers' note:
This is going to be my second collaboration with Mykola Zasieiev. In 2021, together we premiered our short “Phase” at the 50th Molodist IFF in Kyiv; and then received the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation’s grant to develop a script for Mykola’s first fiction feature “Dawn Chorus”. In addition to the genre and unique characters Mykola has created, there is a setting of locations and events, which, actually, could be shot in different countries. The locations include forests, rivers, abounded facilities and plants, where the stories of the road trip might be constructed. Moreover, actors from different countries can be invited since the world got messed up after the war, and people speak different languages/accents trying to find the way of communication with and without guns.

The budget is roughly around 1.3 mln euro while the financial plan is conceived as a 5-country coproduction between Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and France. Emphasis will be placed on multi-source financing and on securing of the stability of the project in terms of possible externalities. In each country, financing will primarily be drawn from two sources – the national film fund and a television broadcaster except for Ukraine. Ukrainian financing will be provided through additional funding like World Cinema Fund, etc. We are also planning to apply for financing with Eurimages. The collaboration between the 5 co-producing countries will, thus, work not only in terms of financing of the project, but also in terms of the composition of the creative and production teams. Like for sound design, cinematographer, set-designer, editor, locations and acting already mentioned.