Veliky Novgorod, 1987. Olga makes a stand against her teacher’s authoritarian teaching methods, Andrey is propagating an ‘anti-death pill’ in a jam jar and Katya observes her father distilling booze illegally behind closed doors. These three young schoolmates are all members of the ‘Vladimir Illyich Lenin’ Young Pioneer organisation and are full of childlike visions of the future. Over twenty-five years on, all three have now established themselves professionally in Moscow. Olga suffers from panic attacks, Andrey tries to fill his inner void with computer games, and Katya is pursued by unsettling dreams. It is clear that they have not really found their bearings in present day Russia.
A portrait of the last generation of former Soviet Union pioneers vainly seeking for their place under the Sun in the stark capitalist reality. A poetic and satirical take on contemporary Russian existence.
"Our picture is not nostalgic at all. It is basically about the difficulty to accept real values, real ideas as a child and later as a grown-up how to deal with the reality with no ideas at all. During our childhood, we were taught to do something useful and to be real, like good human beings and now in Russia, and not only there, it is difficult to fulfil that promise and it is difficult to live like that." (Natalya Kudryashova)
Natalya Kudryashova
Born in Gorki – now Nizhny Novgorod – in the Soviet Union in 1978, she studied acting at the Nizhegorodsky Theatre School before taking a directing course with Anatoly Vasiliev at the School of Dramatic Art in Moscow. Since 2001 she has appeared as an actress in numerous theatre productions. In 2010 she received nomination for Best Actress Award at the Golden Mask Theatre Festival. Pioneer Heroes is her first feature film.
filmography
2011 Kholod (The Freeze) (short)
2012 Utro Lizi (Liza’s Morning) (short)
2015 Pionery-geroi (Pioneer Heroes)