Kornel Mundruczo (Pieces Of A Woman) has signed on to direct The Revolution According To Kamo, a biopic about the friendship between Simon Arshaki Ter-Petrosyan aka “Kamo” and his best childhood friend “Soso” who would go on to become Joseph Stalin.
Mundrcuczo’s frequent collaborator Kata Weber has adapted an original screenplay by Pawel Pawlikowski and Ben Hopkins.
Spanning 30 years between 1891 and Kamo’s death in 1922, the Georgian-language film is described as “a portrait of the birth of the world’s most murderous dictator through the eyes of his best friend, ally, devoted disciple, and henchman.” The two grew up together in the small town of Gori close to Tbilisi. Stalin was born into extreme poverty while Kamo’s family were wealthy merchants. Although Soso leaves Gori to attend a seminary, the two are reunited in their late teens in Tbilisi where the charismatic Soso has become an agitator and leader in the new revolutionary movement to bring down the monarchy. The synopsis reads: As the red political agitators become increasingly powerful in Georgia, Kamo is dragged alongside Soso into a world of gangland violence, murder, and social upheaval.
The film, which is being scheduled for a 2025 shoot in Georgia, is being produced by Mike Goodridge of Good Chaos (Santosh which played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last month) and Ilya Stewart of Hype Studios (Limonov: The Ballad Of Eddie which played in competition at Cannes last month). Co-producers include MK Productions (France), Komplizen Film (Germany), Madants (Poland), Proton Cinema (Hungary) and Takes Film (Georgia).
Ketie Daniela of Tibilisi-based Takes Film will act as the Georgian producer on the film and will lead the production on the ground with Stewart and Goodridge. Balthazar de Ganay (Santosh) will act as the supervising line producer. Pawlikowski and Tanya Seghatchian will also act as producers for Apocalypso Pictures. The script was originally developed with Film4.
Mundruczo is currently in the U.S. shooting At the Sea, an original screenplay by Weber which stars Amy Adams. He previously directed the first four episodes of The Crowded Room starring Tom Holland for Apple. His last feature Pieces of A Woman won an Oscar nomination for lead actress Vanessa Kirby, and his previous six features: White God, Jupiter’s Moon, Tender Son, Delta, Johanna, and Evolution, all featured in sections at the Cannes Film Festival.
“The Revolution According To Kamo is an epic movie about history but it also sits firmly in the gangster movie genre,” said Mundruczo. “It’s less about a man being born evil, but about the mechanics of power and how one man rises to the top. But it’s also about a passionate friendship between these two men who knew each other since they were boys.”
Stewart and Goodridge added: “Kornel Mundruczo is one of the world’s finest directors and we couldn’t be happier to be working with him and Kata on this ambitious and chilling story. Raised in Hungary during Soviet times, Kornel knows the legacy of Stalin all too well and we all believe that this story of the birth of a narcissistic tyrant is one with clear parallels 100 years later.”
Mundruczo is represented by United Agents and Stuart Manishil of Novo Entertainment.
