As a Russian director, he fulfilled the last request of American Superman.

You probably know that our country is ignoring the Oscars this year. However, Russian director Vlad Kozlov made a personal decision to submit his short film “Duel” for the star statuette.

The premiere of his film took place on October 23, 2022 at the Message to Man film festival in St. Petersburg. Viewers could chat with the director and ask questions, though via video link.

Vlad Kozlov decided to submit the film to the Oscar for a reason. In the center of his tape is the story of a street performer who, dressed as Superman, goes to Hollywood Boulevard and is waiting to meet the famous Franco Nero, who is about to appear on the boulevard before the start of the Oscar ceremony. A dialogue takes place between the artists, which gradually grew into a real duel of absolutely polar worldviews.

Naturally, such a movie is half documentary. It is filmed in a rare stylecinema believe”, and it has virtually no script. Such a curious presentation of the material instantly attracted the attention of many film festivals around the world. The picture has already been seen by the audience of the largest festivals in Canada, Italy, Iran, Bulgaria, included in the Oscar list. In California, at the Outcome Film Festival, she generally took the prize for best film, and Franco Nero was awarded the award for supporting role. In addition, Duel will be screened in competition at the Virginia Film Festival on November 4th.

It was this success in the world and interest in the film that prompted Vlad Kozlov to submit the film for an Oscar.

The hero of the tape is a very real person Chris Dennis (the same Hollywood Superman) in 2019 after his death on the streets of Los Angeles became an icon of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Here the most interesting begins: Vlad was the closest friend of Chris and for a couple of years documented everything that was connected with him. Chris told how he grew up in orphanages, he was completely alone, although he daily entertained the crowds of tourists that appeared on Hollywood Boulevard.

Apparently anticipating his imminent departure, some time before his death, Chris asked Vlad that if something happened to him, that he would bury him in a Superman costume. The Russian director fulfilled the last request of the American Superman.

It often happens that a successful short film takes on a full-length format. Today, the director and his company, Dreamer Pictures, are seeking additional funding to complete the feature-length version. The new version will tell about the childhood years of the hero, the fight against drug addiction, survival on the streets of America, reincarnation as Superman, and most importantly, it will touch on the key issue – the significance of the image of Superman for the United States and the gradual loss of hope among the country’s population for the American dream.

Elena Bulova.

Photo provided by the PR service of the film.