Graduate of St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television Finishes Production of Feature Film

In early February, the graduate of the St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television Kmel Ntsama finished the production of his film "Liza" in one of the filming pavilions of the Lenfilm film studio. Ilya Severov, a director and a graduate of St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, is the creative producer of the project.

The biography of a new director draws attention with its versatility. Kmel Ntsama was born in Cameroon, lived in France and got higher education in Russia. He wrote the script himself and, of course, the theme of Africa could not help influencing the idea of the film. Talking about the film, education and life in Russia, the graduate of the St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television mentioned that he was not going to stop there and would continue developing: 

- This is my debut film. Initially, it is a graduation project. I wrote the script myself. I came up with the idea myself, but the editors helped me. When you want to work on a project, you should work with experienced people. My friend, a director Ilya Severov, helped me a lot with the recruitment of the team. I was looking for actors, while he was looking for specialists. I chose the topic of sacrifice because I know that in life, there is an opportunity to save everyone, but it does not happen because some people look for profit only. In Africa, I have seen people die of diseases. At the same time, there is an opportunity to save them - medicines. However, there are people who do not do it because the only thing they think of is profit. Therefore, I decided to make a film about a doctor who invented a unique medicine but faced a harsh reality. I like Russia because it gave me an opportunity to make films. If I succeed, I want to live here and continue to shoot. In addition, I want to make films for the Western audiences. There are such opportunities here, in Russia.

Initially, it was planned to shoot a short film, but because the team was so well chosen, during the pre-production it was decided to make a full-length film. The creative producer of the project is the director Ilya Severov. He told about the production. Ilya emphasised the fact that it was he who insisted that the new filmmaker try himself both as a director and as a producer: 

- It is the first time I have had the situation when during the filmmaking process a short film turned into a full-length one. We have a good well-coordinated team. As a creative producer, I tried to attract specialists who worked with me on other projects. Initially, Kmel Ntsama, we call him John, offered me the position of the director of his film, and he would be a producer. However, I thought that as a graduate, he should try both positions. So I insisted that he direct his film. We filmed in the Gulf of Finland, partially in Crimea. The main location is the hospital scenery. Naturally, real ones are not allowed, so we shoot it in the Lenfilm studios.

A young actor Aleksey Kapishnikov played the main role in the film. Aleksandra Gribko, Marina Vainbrand, Aleksandr Suvorov, Svetlana Goncharova, Liza Medvedeva, Dmitry Krasilov and others also starred in the film.

The Lenfilm film studio, in addition to the filming pavilion, gave the film crew an opportunity to use lighting equipment and service premises. Now there is a post-production of the film.

The University congratulates Kmel Ntsama on such a bright start and wishes him further incredible success. The university also congratulates Ilya Severov on one more successful project.