scriptwriter film director producer
RUDOLF
(a working title)
by Radik Kudoyarov
This is a 120-minute drama for adults about Rudolf Nureyev who was born into a poor family in the Soviet Union and became an international ballet icon and the richest dancer in the world.
There are 48 557 words in the script. It is based not only on well-known official facts, but rather mostly on the details of all the stories collected over a period of 12 years.
The materials collected in my archives suffice to carry out the project in three different formats: TV series (4 parts), a version for festivals (running time – 150 min) and a version for distribution (120 min) if it works for the market. The script consists of 8 sequences. Each of them has its own beginning, culmination and finale. However, all the sequences are closely related to each other.
Despite the fact that Rudolf was an artist of world renown, I think that the times have changed and that, perhaps, not everyone knows who Rudolf Nureyev was. I structured the story so as to build anticipation in an audience unfamiliar with the protagonist’s name at the beginning of the film, hoping that, by the end of the movie, it would want to remember him. And one more important thing – Rudolf and his life serve as a very good role model for young people. Not only can they enjoy an interesting movie, but also be inspired and encouraged knowing about his amazing flight in life.
My research covers many years and has allowed me to document in depth Nureyev’s personality and Nureyev the dancer thereby enabling me to make the first ever feature film (a biopic). Many people were surprised to learn that, thus far, not a single feature film had been devoted to his fantastic personality. From my point of view, the key thing is to understand Nureyev’s true nature, which was kept under wraps. Rudolf’s mentality was mixed: he was born in Soviet Russia into a Tatar family and lived his life in the West – two completely different worlds!