The romantic war drama film Firebird hit theaters last April 29, directed, co-written, and co-produced by Peeter Rebane in his feature directorial debut, and is based on Sergey Fetisov’s memoir The Story of Roman. Set at the height of the Cold War, it follows the story of a young soldier who forms a forbidden relationship with a fighter pilot. The film stars Tom Prior, Oleg Zagorodnii, and Diana Pozharskaya. The film premiered last year at several LGBTQ+ Film Festivals including the 35th BFI Flare: London Lgbtiq+ Film Festival and at 45th Frameline: San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival where it
Five Movies To Watch When You’re Done With “Firebird”...
Five Movies To Watch When You’re Done With “Firebird”...
- 6/19/2022
- by A.E. Oats
- TVovermind.com
Tom Prior and Oleg Zagorodnii, in the romantic thriller Firebird. Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Set in Cold War-era Estonia, then occupied by the Soviet Union, a two young men, a soldier and a pilot, fall in love, a dangerous relationship forbidden by homophobic law, in the English-language romantic thriller/drama Firebird. Appropriately, this moving film is debuting in St. Louis just as Cinema St. Louis’ QFest, its celebration of gay-themed film, kicks off on Friday, April 29.
Sergey (Tom Prior), Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya) and Volodja (Jake Thomas Henderson) are an inseparable trio, in military service at the Soviet Air Force base in Estonia, and as the film opens, the three friends have sneaked off to swim on the rocky coast. When a Soviet security patrol catches them, Volodja’s family connections keep them out of trouble but the tension of living in 1977 Soviet-occupied Estonia is made clear. Also made clear in the scene,...
Set in Cold War-era Estonia, then occupied by the Soviet Union, a two young men, a soldier and a pilot, fall in love, a dangerous relationship forbidden by homophobic law, in the English-language romantic thriller/drama Firebird. Appropriately, this moving film is debuting in St. Louis just as Cinema St. Louis’ QFest, its celebration of gay-themed film, kicks off on Friday, April 29.
Sergey (Tom Prior), Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya) and Volodja (Jake Thomas Henderson) are an inseparable trio, in military service at the Soviet Air Force base in Estonia, and as the film opens, the three friends have sneaked off to swim on the rocky coast. When a Soviet security patrol catches them, Volodja’s family connections keep them out of trouble but the tension of living in 1977 Soviet-occupied Estonia is made clear. Also made clear in the scene,...
- 4/29/2022
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Firebird,” the first narrative feature by director Peeter Rebane, is clearly a labor of love. It is based on a 1996 memoir by the Russian actor Sergey Fetisov called “A Tale About Roman,” which details a forbidden love affair he had with a handsome fighter pilot on a Soviet air base in Estonia in the 1970s.
Rebane co-wrote the script with Tom Prior, an English actor (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) who stars as Sergey in the film, and it took them many years to get “Firebird” made and released. Whether all this effort was worthwhile is open to question.
The first half of “Firebird,” set on the base, takes its time to let us see the slow-building attraction between Prior’s Sergey and Roman (Oleg Zagorodnii). Sergey likes to take photographs, and when he first sees Roman, he can’t help but let his camera linger over this man’s eyelashes,...
Rebane co-wrote the script with Tom Prior, an English actor (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) who stars as Sergey in the film, and it took them many years to get “Firebird” made and released. Whether all this effort was worthwhile is open to question.
The first half of “Firebird,” set on the base, takes its time to let us see the slow-building attraction between Prior’s Sergey and Roman (Oleg Zagorodnii). Sergey likes to take photographs, and when he first sees Roman, he can’t help but let his camera linger over this man’s eyelashes,...
- 4/28/2022
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
Not that we needed a reminder, but Russia’s recent human rights violations — while flagrant — are sadly not a new phenomenon. David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” documented the horrific genocide being waged against LGBTQ people in what is now a Russian Republic, a terrifying sign of what could lay in store for LGBTQ Ukrainians. Taking an altogether different tack, the stately period drama “Firebird” tells the true story of an ill-fated military romance between two men in Soviet-occupied Estonia during the late 1970s and early ’80s.
Based on a memoir by Sergey Fetisov, the steamy Cold War drama The film’s tragic throughline won’t break any molds, but with smoldering performances by its two strapping young leads, the target audience is unlikely to care.
Despite the heat of its title, “Firebird” begins in the water as three lithe bodies splash playfully in a dark sea. The horseplay is...
Based on a memoir by Sergey Fetisov, the steamy Cold War drama The film’s tragic throughline won’t break any molds, but with smoldering performances by its two strapping young leads, the target audience is unlikely to care.
Despite the heat of its title, “Firebird” begins in the water as three lithe bodies splash playfully in a dark sea. The horseplay is...
- 4/28/2022
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
At a crucial point in “Firebird,” two perfectly chiseled servicemen steal away from the Soviet Air Force base where they’re stationed for a skinny dip in the Baltic Sea. Behind craggy rocks and away from prying eyes, they kiss, before one gives the other a charged underwater handjob; as they jointly climax, director Peeter Rebane cuts to an image of two fighter jets blazing overhead, the lovers’ clenched moans drowned in a roaring sonic boom. Subtlety is in short supply in “Firebird,” a swooning gay romance that firmly supplants “Top Gun” as the queerest film ever set in the air force; it may even top Tony Scott’s closeted kitschfest for most phallic military imagery per frame.
But if such isolated moments of hot-and-bothered vulgarity suggest a winking exercise in heightened horniness, “Firebird’s” story of forbidden love in an oppressive authoritarian regime is otherwise played, for want of a better word,...
But if such isolated moments of hot-and-bothered vulgarity suggest a winking exercise in heightened horniness, “Firebird’s” story of forbidden love in an oppressive authoritarian regime is otherwise played, for want of a better word,...
- 4/28/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
After almost a year in festival rounds, the searing, heartfelt film “Firebird” is now here. From director Peeter Rebane and based on the book The Story of Roman by Sergey Fetisov, the film tells the story of Sergey (Tom Prior who also co-wrote the script with Rebane), a troubled young private who falls in
The post Tom Prior Talks Love, Homophobia, and LGBTQ Film “Firebird” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
The post Tom Prior Talks Love, Homophobia, and LGBTQ Film “Firebird” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
- 4/24/2022
- by manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
True story of lovers thwarted by the repressive Soviet military in the 1970s has sadly not lost any of its relevance
Made last year but suddenly obliquely relevant after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this Estonian-British co-production examines some of the ways a repressive and homophobic state apparatus scars citizens with shame. Based on a true story according to the opening credits, the setting is the late 1970s when the Soviet Union still occupied the Baltic nations. Provincial Russian youth Sergey Serebrennikov is doing his national service at an army base in Estonia. He has a coy flirtation going with local beauty Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya), a secretary on the base for a commanding officer, and he is pally with his bunk mate Volodja (Jake Henderson). However, when Sergey is assigned to serve as a sort of valet to suave ace fighter pilot Roman Matvajev (Ukrainian actor Oleg Zagorodnii), the attraction...
Made last year but suddenly obliquely relevant after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this Estonian-British co-production examines some of the ways a repressive and homophobic state apparatus scars citizens with shame. Based on a true story according to the opening credits, the setting is the late 1970s when the Soviet Union still occupied the Baltic nations. Provincial Russian youth Sergey Serebrennikov is doing his national service at an army base in Estonia. He has a coy flirtation going with local beauty Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya), a secretary on the base for a commanding officer, and he is pally with his bunk mate Volodja (Jake Henderson). However, when Sergey is assigned to serve as a sort of valet to suave ace fighter pilot Roman Matvajev (Ukrainian actor Oleg Zagorodnii), the attraction...
- 4/19/2022
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
"I see what goes on under my nose." Roadside Attractions has debuted a second official US trailer for an Estonian Cold War love triangle romantic thriller titled Firebird. It's now opening in April this spring after being delayed from release last fall. The film is made in Estonia but it's shot in English. At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier enters a forbidden love triangle with a fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet Air Force Base. Firebird shares the true story of forbidden love on a military base. This film is a journey of following love at all costs, of growing up, and of courage even in the most impossible of situations. It's inspired by the true story of Sergey Fetisov. The film stars Tom Prior as Sergey, along with Oleg Zagorodnii, Diana Pozharskaya, Jake Thomas Henderson, Margus Prangel, Ester Kuntu,...
- 3/17/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"You know what happens to men like you?" An official US trailer has debuted for an Estonian Cold War love triangle romantic thriller titled Firebird, which is a slick name for a film like this. At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet Air Force Base. Firebird shares the true story of forbidden love, set on a military base at the height of the Cold War. This film is a journey of following love at all costs, of growing up, and of courage even in the most impossible of situations. It's inspired by the true story of Sergey Fetisov. The film stars Tom Prior as Sergey, along with Oleg Zagorodnii, Diana Pozharskaya, Jake Thomas Henderson, Margus Prangel, Ester Kuntu, and Nicholas Woodeson. It premiered at the 2021 BFI Flare...
- 11/3/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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