Alexander Rodnyansky, the producer of Oscar nominated films “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” has boarded the next project from Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov (pictured), whose film “Goliath” has its world premiere at Venice Film Festival on Thursday in the Horizons Extra section.
The new project, “Nosorog,” tells a contemporary story of Tamara, a distraught woman on a desperate search for her missing son in a small town consumed by violent riots. To help get her son back, she hires a shady detective, Brayuk, with unexpected consequences.
Rodnyansky joins producers Aliya Mendygozhina and Olga Khlasheva on the project, which is a co-production between the State Center of Support of the National Cinema of Kazakhstan and Kazakh film company Golden Man Media.
Rodnyansky said: “My strategy has always been to work with the best directors from any country and I am very excited to be a part of a new film of Adilkhan Yerzhanov, one of the best directors of Kazakhstan, whose films many times were part of the official selections of Cannes and Venice film festivals.”
Yerzhanov has had two films selected at Cannes: “The Owners,” which played in the Special Screenings section in 2014, and “The Gentle Indifference of the World,” which was in the Un Certain Regard section in 2018. Yerzhanov’s “Yellow Cat” played in Venice’s Horizons section in 2020.
Ukrainian-born Rodnyansky has produced more than 40 films. His credits include Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” “Beanpole” by Kantemir Balagov, “Unclenching the Fists” by Kira Kovalenko, “Jayne Mansfield’s Car” by Billy Bob Thornton, and “Sin City 2” by Robert Rodriguez. Last year, Rodnyansky signed a first-look deal with Apple TV+.