Beta Film strengthens its Russian content slate by picking up 15th-century epic history drama series Land of Legends and the feature film of the same name, produced by Star Media (Vlad Riashyn, Daria Lavrova), PROFIT (Igor Tolstunov) and Rossiya 1 (Anton Zlatopolskiy). The visually stunning series features Aleksandr Kuznetsov (Gold Diggers, Better Than Us) as Prince Mikhail. The actor recently starred alongside French stars Louis Garrel and Camille Cottin in the 2021 Cannes feature film Our Men.

The ambitious limited series is based on the critically acclaimed novel by one of the most popular Russian authors, Alexei Ivanov, combining historical drama with mystery and fantasy. Directed by Anton Megerdichev (Going Vertical, Metro) the cast of Land of Legends further includes the up-and-coming Elena Erbakova, Fyodor Bondarchuk (Sputnik, Filatov) and Evgeniy Mironov (The Lenin Factor, Cosmoball). Land of Legends is created with the support of the Cinema Foundation of Russia.

Land of Legends (6x1h) tells the story of Mikhail, a Russian prince who is raised to stay true to his roots and human values of love and faith. But after his father dies in battle by the hand of the pagan lord Asyka, Mikhail fulfills his father’s dream and establishes peace in the ancient lands of Perm. But young Prince Mikhail is torn between his love and the will of the mighty as he faces an epic fight that will decide not only his fate, but the fate of the whole of Rus. Married to the incarnation of a pagan goddess, his love, too, becomes the focus of those who seek to climb the throne of Perm.

The historical drama is the most recent collaboration with Star Media. Beta and Star Media also joined forces with Croatia’s leading production company Drugi Plan on the crime series The Silence (6x1h), which world premieres at the “Beta Night” at NEM Dubrovnik on September 8. Based on the critically acclaimed books by Drago Hedl, listed among the 33 best European crime novels of 2018, the series uncovers human trafficking throughout Eastern Europe. The series is produced by Drugi Plan and HRT in collaboration with Beta Film, Star Media and Ukrainian OTT streaming service OLL.TV. Beta Film handles worldwide sales of Land of Legends and The Silence.

Leonid Godik, Beta Film VP International Sales & Acquisitions: “We’ve been cooperating with Star Media and Profit on Land of Legends since the development of the project. When we saw the first visual material, we were fascinated by its production level and value. Land of Legends was shot directly in the Ural mountains, where the story takes place. The audience will be able to feel the authentic atmosphere of the world in the 15th century. Since modern viewers love epic fantasy shows, international channels and platforms are eager to acquire them now. That’s why we hope that Land of Legends will follow the path of the other Russian shows in our catalog and become an international success.”