https://swedenfilmawards.se/zugzwang-of-ober/
https://filmfreeway.com/ZUGZWANGOBERLIEUTENANTBRUNOTHEVS
ÏÐÈÇÛ ÌÅÆÄÓÍÀÐÎÄÍÛÕ ÊÈÍÎÔÅÑÒÈÂÀËÅÉ
https://vgik.info/today/creativelife/detail.php?ID=12878
SCREENPLAY'S AWARDS
«ZUGZWANG OF OBER LIEUTENANT BRUNO THEVS»
* «Best Script» — «Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood» LACFH-2024 Los Angeles, USA 26.03.2024
* «Feature Screenplay» finalist — «Cambridge Script Festival» CSF-2024 Cambridge, England 23.01.2024
* «Feature Screenplay» finalist — «Cambridge Script Festival» CSF-2024 Cambridge, England 01.05.2024
* «War Screenplay» finalist — «Cambridge Script Festival» CSF-2024 Cambridge, England 01.05.2024
* «Best Feature Script» — «Brandenburg International Film Festival» BIFF-2024 Berlin, Germany 13.02.2024
* «Best Screenplay» — «Sweden Film Awards» SFA-2023 Stockholm, Sweden 16.11.2023
* «Best Feature Script» — «Swedish Academy of Motion Picture Awards» SAMPA-2024 Stockholm, Sweden 11.04.2024
* «Best Writer», «Critic's choice Awards: «Best Feature Script Screenplay» — «International Film Festival NITIIN-2023» Penang, Malaysia 7.11.2023
* «Best Screenplay» finalist — «Vesuvius International Film Fest» VIFF-2023 Vesuvie, Italy 3.11.2023
* «Best Unproduced Script» — «Liber International Film Festifal» LIFF-2023 Athens, Greece 8.12.2023
* «Best Feature Script/Screenplay» — «Indo Malaysia Film Festival» IMFF-2023 Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia 11.12.2023
* «Honorable Jury mention» — «12th Delhi Shorts international Film Festival-23» DSIFF-2023 New Delhi, India 28.10.2023
* «Best Feature Script» — «The Singapore International Competition» TSIC-2023 Singapore 23.12.2023
* «Best International Feature Script» — «The Singapore International Competition» TSIC-2023 Singapore 23.12.2023
* «Best Unproduced Script» finalist — «The Singapore International Competition» TSIC-2023 Singapore 23.12.2023
THE PRESS
https://vgik.info/today/creativelife/detail.php?ID=12878
ÊÈÍÎÏÐÎÅÊÒ «Öóãöâàíã Îáåð-ëåéòåíàíòà Áðóíî Òåâñà»//film project «Zugzwang of Ober Lieutenant Bruno Thevs»
A FULL-LENGTH FEATURE FILM «Zugzwang of Ober Lieutenant Bruno Thevs»
for wide distribution in Russia, Europe, India, China
From the military-historical novel-trilogy «IN THE CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ»
Project is timed to THE WITHDRAWAL OF NATO COALITION FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN 2021.08.31. Based on real events, the names of the prototypes have been partially changed.
Author: Iliyas DAUDI
Genre: Action, Drama, History
Format: full meter; movie series
Materials: Long line; Application; Short synopsis (full meter) & Long synopsis (movie series); Script
* THE SCRIPT/ http://proza.ru/2021/08/05/1054
* THE STORY/ http://proza.ru/2020/10/01/871
SLOGAN
«The story of heroes among whom you want to live!»
LONG LINE
This story is about war and peace, happiness and tragedies, strong friendship and a return to the roots.
— The main character is a Russian German, Bruno Thevs, he is an officer of the special operations forces of the KSK Bundeswehr (FRG), the son of a Soviet soldier who died in 1986 in Afghanistan.
— The desire to get even for the death of his father directs Bruno, who was taken away from the USSR for permanent residence in Germany in 1989 to participate in the military operation of the NATO forces (ISAF) «Enduring Freedom» in the 2010s.
— The victims and destruction inflicted by ISAF, the death in that moloch of his own Afghan bride and close comrades lead to a turning point in the hero's consciousness, a reassessment of the causes of the bloody confrontation.
— Disappointed by the actions of the Western ISAF coalition, not wanting to be part of a cynical military machine, Bruno resigns from military service, returns to his historical homeland in Russia.
— Bruno's gratitude for the hardships and overcoming he experienced, at the end of the story, will be the new happiness he found in Russia.
APPLICATION
«Zugzwang is a chess term meaning forcing a disastrous move».
This story is about a young lieutenant of the Bundeswehr of Germany, Bruno Thevs, who serves in the secret intelligence unit of the special operations forces "KSK" of the Bundeswehr in Germany.
— Bruno was a year old when his Father, a Soviet soldier, died in Afghanistan in 1986, in 1989, Bruno, along with relatives from Volga Germans who were evicted during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) to Southern Kazakhstan, moved to permanent residence in Germany (Freiburg).
— Having grown up and become a professional military man, Bruno, contrary to the spell of his mother, appeals to the command with a request for rotation to the special anti-terrorist unit «TASK FORCE 47» (TF—47) in the German grouping of NATO forces in Afghanistan - ISAF, fighting the radical Taliban movement.
— After tough tests, strict selection, Bruno arrives at the Mazar-I-Sharif military base in Afghanistan.
— Bruno is motivated, assertive, brusque, everything in him is subordinated to a single goal — the fight against the rebels and revenge for his father
— While solving special anti-terrorist tasks in Afghanistan, Bruno involves his friend, a reporter of a leading Western publication, who was saved by him when he was released from Taliban captivity, but paid for the cynicism of the TF-47 command with his life, in one of the special operations.
— The death of a comrade will shock Bruno.
— Bruno will not be able to prevent the death of his beloved girlfriend, Afghan Sita Ahmadzai, in an ISAF air strike on the MSF hospital of the international humanitarian mission Doctors Without Borders, which claimed over 100 lives.
— Participating in special operations against the Taliban, Bruno is constantly in the thick of dramatic events, the epicenter of mass casualties of the indigenous population.
— Once, an apologist of Western values, convinced of the rightness of the actions of the ISAF fighting international terrorism, Bruno will survive a psychological fracture, a transformation of the worldview, blaming the troubles of peaceful Afghans — ISAF and its leadership.
— Not wanting to be a part of the brutal war machine anymore, Bruno resigns from the Bundeswehr, goes to his historical homeland in Russia.
— There Bruno finds the friends of his late Father who survived the battles.
— The events in Russia will fill Bruno's life with a new meaning.
SYNOPSIS
Bruno Thevs, military intelligence officer, chief lieutenant of the special operations forces of the KSK Bundeswehr (FRG), who submitted a report to the command to send him to serve in Afghanistan at his own request, is undergoing rigorous selection and testing at the KSK base in Karlsruhe, FRG.
— The authoritative commission approves the castling, Bruno arrives at the Mazar-I-Sharif airbase in Afghanistan, where he enlists in the special anti-terrorist TASK FORCE TF-47 unit of the German forces in the ISAF joint grouping, the North zone, the city of Kunduz.
— From the very first days of service in Afghanistan, Bruno, the commander of the TF—47 special forces group, has been involved in dangerous special operations against the radical Taliban movement, manifests himself as a brave, determined warrior.
— In the first operation, Bruno prevents a terrorist attack involving suicide truck drivers loaded with explosives who broke into the TF-47 garrison in Kunduz.
— In other operations, Bruno performs with the group the task of capturing and eliminating Taliban leaders, frees hostages, among whom is a wounded reporter, the correspondent of a major European publication, Otto Greenberg (Otto).
— Bruno delivers the wounded Otto to Kunduz, MSF — the hospital of the international humanitarian mission Doctors Without Borders.
— An old notebook and a photo of a soldier of the Soviet Army are unexpectedly found in Otto's personal belongings.
— Bruno is shocked — after all, this is a notebook and a photo of his father who died in Afghanistan…
— Father, Konstantin Thevs from the Volga Germans, a native of Southern Kazakhstan, USSR in the mid-1980s served as part of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, and together with his comrades fought with the Mujahideen.
Konstantin Thevs has more than one dangerous operation on his account.
— In one of the heavy battles, Konstantin is seriously wounded and dies. Konstantin's wife, Rosa, Bruno's mother, emigrated to Germany (Freiburg) together with their young son in 1989.
— There Bruno grows up and, under the influence of his mother's stories about his father, becomes a professional military intelligence officer.
— Bruno's decision to file a report on being sent to serve in Afghanistan is related to where his father fought and died.
— Friendly relations are established between military intelligence officer Bruno and reporter Otto.
— Otto promises Bruno that when he recovers, he will take him to a former mujahideen who gave him a notebook and a photo of the deceased Soviet soldier Konstantin Thevs.
— At the MSF hospital, Bruno meets a beautiful, modest Oriental girl, Sita Ahmadzai.
— Sita Ahmadzai is a Pashtun woman born in Germany, a family of Afghan immigrants, who serves as a doctor at MSF in Kunduz.
— Bruno is fascinated by Sita, shows signs of attention in every possible way. Sita accepts Bruno's courtship with restraint.
Sita, although born and raised in Germany, is still brought up in strict Muslim traditions, observes the canons.
— The probability that Sita's family will allow her to marry a non-believer Bruno is negligible, but the approaching Bruno and Sita do not lose hope.
— The wounded Otto goes to MSF to recover, as promised, takes Bruno to a remote mountain village to the former mujahideen Ismatullah.
— Ismatulla tells Bruno under what circumstances he had a notebook and a photo of the deceased Konstantin Thevs.
— Ismatulla agrees to take Bruno and Otto to the mountains — to the site of the last bloody battle, where Konstantin Thevs was mortally wounded.
— In the narrative of Mujahid Ismatullah, Bruno reconstructs the picture of that battle, and realizes that Ismatullah is obviously the one who fatally wounded his father.
— Ismatullah, who lost his arm in that battle and almost lost his life, sincerely empathizes with the relatives who lost their relatives in the Afghan war in the 1980s, speaks with respect about the Soviet soldiers, brave and worthy.
— Ismatullah admits to Bruno that he has largely revised his previous views, and would not fight with Shuravi now, but despite his advanced age, he is still ready to take up arms again to beat the occupiers from the ISAF coalition.
— Bruno is puzzled by Ismatullah's position, because ISAF, in his opinion, is fighting international terrorism, protecting Afghan civilians!
— During his service, Bruno becomes an eyewitness to the death of a large number of civilians in ISAF operations, and with each case he becomes more and more convinced of the harm of the presence of the ISAF coalition in Afghanistan.
— Bruno will be especially shocked by the ISAF airstrike in the village of Daftani on a mosque and madrasah during the celebrations on the occasion of a religious holiday, awarding the winners of the competition of Qur'an reciters — Hafiz (boys aged six to fourteen years).
— The result: hundreds of innocent victims, hundreds of seriously injured — all children.
Is this a deliberate blow or a tragic mistake?!
— Reporter Otto, fulfilling his journalistic duty, despite the deadly danger, uses his contacts with the Taliban to shoot a live report in the village of Daftani, the site of the tragedy, to interview the parents of the dead children.
— On the frames of the video camera, Otto captures horrific scenes with fragments of bodies scattered on the site, rows of children's shoes left at the place of prayer, mournful memorial services in the courtyards for the dead children, grief-stricken relatives, a damaged mosque, destroyed residential buildings.
— Otto's truthful revelatory material about the tragedy in Daftani, published in the world's leading publication, caused a wide public outcry and condemnation of ISAF's actions in the world, strengthening Otto's authority among the Taliban.
— Contrary to the horrifying facts, heralds from the official Afghan media and the ISAF coalition call what happened in Daftani the destruction of the Taliban training center together with the leaders.
— The Taliban respond to the tragedy in Daftani by kidnapping the son of the commander of the Bundeswehr garrison, Colonel (Oberst) Georg Jung, Bruno's immediate superior, Alfred, who flew from Munich to visit his father.
— Bruno volunteers to help in the release of Alfred Jung, turns to Otto with a request to talk to the Taliban about the exchange of Alfred.
— Otto is staunchly opposed, because he is shocked by the victims of Daftani and does not want to deal with an officer who gave orders for the use of military force against civilians.
— Bruno pushes Otto, argues that he owes his rescue from Taliban captivity to TF-47 special forces and directly to Oberst Jung. As a result, he persuades to reach out to the Taliban, to ask for exchange conditions.
— The Taliban's terms are accepted by TF-47. For Alfred Jung, the Taliban demand 5 of their regional leaders from captivity.
— As a guarantee of security, the Taliban demand that Bruno and Otto be taken hostage before the exchange is completed. The conditions are accepted.
— Loving Sita is heartily worried about Bruno. The young are waiting for the blessing of the marriage of Sita's parents. The mother, who understands Sita in a feminine way, persuades her husband Ayub to agree. Ayub, firmly against the gentile Bruno, but after learning that he is the son of a Soviet soldier who died in Afghanistan, surrenders under persuasion. Bruno and Sita are immensely happy, preparing for the wedding.
— But happiness is not destined to come true: an airstrike by the American ISAF Air Force on the MSF Doctors Without Borders hospital leaves over a hundred dead under the rubble, including Sita. Bruno is heartbroken. Hates the culprits.
— The exchange of Alfred Jung and the Taliban leaders in action — the parties exchange prisoners, Otto and Bruno are released.
— Oberst Jung and Alfred with senior TF-47 officers get into armored personnel carriers, drive off. Bruno's SWAT team is waiting for him and Otto. Before Otto and Bruno have time to leave the exchange site, ISAF helicopter gunships appear in the sky and begin hitting the Taliban with rockets.
— The Taliban are returning fire on helicopters and special forces. Their automatic burst hits Otto. Dying, Otto forcefully says "it was impossible to believe Oberst Jung."
— Bruno is furious: who called the aviation and ordered to open fire?!
— Bruno breaks into Oberst Jung, harshly reprimands the claim.
— Bruno, completely disappointed in the ISAF mission, cynical, inhumane methods, returns to Germany, resigns from military service and goes to the city of birth — Dzhambul.
There he pours a handful of earth from the place of the disastrous battle on his father's grave and, in fulfillment of the purpose of the old notebook, flies to Moscow.
— Using phone numbers, Bruno searches for his father's surviving friends.
— Legless invalid Rust introduces Bruno to Masha, the daughter of one of the three survivors of the war, but who died at the walls of the House of Soviets in October 1993 Bonfire (Ivan Kostrov). United by a common misfortune — the loss of their father-friends, Bruno and Masha are connected by a relationship.
— The events in Russia will fill Bruno's life with meaning, hope for the future.
TIME SLICES
— The first, present, 2000s tells about the chief lieutenant of the special operations forces of the KSK Bundeswehr - Bruno Thevs, the son of a Soviet soldier who died in Afghanistan.
— The second, a flashback to the recent past — an episode of the history of friends in the Afghan war and Modern Russia.
— The third, a flashback to the distant past — the Emirate of Afghanistan 1917-1942, the period of the struggle against Basmatism in the Afghan-Soviet border area.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
The prototype of the reporter "Der Spiegel" Otto Greenberg, who conducted a journalistic investigation of the inhumane actions of ISAF, was the well-known American reporter of the New York Times, Stephen Farrell, kidnapped by the Taliban.
— The story is based on real events in Afghanistan, widely covered in the Western media, received a strong resonance in the world.
— The facts of the excessive use of military force by ISAF with the mass death of civilians took place in reality:
— during an air strike on the village of Umar-heil in the province of Kunduz — on civilians who had accumulated near fuel trucks, about 100 people were killed.
— during an air strike on the village of Daftani in Kunduz province — with the mass death of Hafiz children reciting the Koran from 8 to 14 years old on the day of graduation from the madrasah, about 100 children were killed.
— during an air strike on the MSF hospital of the international humanitarian mission "Doctors without Borders" in the city of Kunduz — a large number of civilians, European and Afghan medical workers who were in the buildings, killed more than 100 people.