| First Squad: The Moment of Truth | |
|---|---|
| Kana | ファースト・スクワッド |
| Directed by | Yoshiharu Ashino[1] |
| Produced by | Eiko Tanaka Aljosha Klimov Misha Sprits |
| Written by | Aljosha Klimov Misha Sprits |
| Starring | Elena Chebaturkina |
| Music by | DJ Krush |
| Cinematography | João Da Costa Pinto Sergey Akimov Kumiko Sakamoto |
| Editing by | João Da Costa Pinto Sergey Akimov Kumiko Sakamoto |
| Studio | Studio 4°C Molot Entertainment Film Company |
| Distributed by | Molot Entertainment Film Company |
| Release date(s) | May 13, 2009 (Cannes) October 15, 2009 (Russia) |
| Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | Japan Russia |
| Language | Russian |
First Squad (Japanese: ファーストスクワッド Fāsuto sukuwaddo, Russian: Пе́рвый отря́д, Perviy otryad) is a joint animation project of Japan's Studio 4°C and Russian authors with Molot Entertainment. It won the Kommersant newspaper's prize.[2]
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Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front. Its main cast are a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army. They are opposed by a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross (i.e. the Teutonic Knights) and enlist them in the Nazi cause. Most of the teenage crew die, except for the protagonist Nadia. She is taken to a secret Soviet lab that studies supernatural phenomena, especially contacts with the dead. Nadia's task is to dive into the world of the dead for reconnaissance. There, in the Gloomy Valley, she meets her dead friends and tries to persuade them to continue fighting.
The animation is interspersed with mockumentary "present day" sequences, where Soviet and German war veterans, historians and psychologists comment on real historical events and the events of the plot as if they were historical.
On the eve of May 9, 2005, a video clip was released, based on the track "Наша с тобой победа" ("Our victory") by Russian rap artist Ligalize. The clip was directed by Daisuke Nakayama, produced by Michael Spritz and Alexey Klimov and depicted an epic fight between Soviet Pioneers and Nazi soldiers, with the German side in possession of mecha and various supernatural soldiers. Among featured locations are famous Palace of Soviets and Mayakovskaya metro station, Moscow.
In 2007, it was announced that a motion picture titled First Squad - The Moment Of Truth[3] was in the works. Film is produced by Studio 4°C and recently created for this purpose studio Molot Entertainment, distributed by Amedia. Directed by Studio 4°C director and animator Yoshiharu Asino, cowritten and produced by Michael Spritz, Alexey Klimov, with Eiko Tanaka, featuring character development by Hirofumi Nakata, and music by Japanese musician DJ Krush. The film has been shown at Cannes Film Festival,[4] Locarno Film Festival,[5] Fantasporto[6] and Fantasia film festival,.[7] On June 8, 2010, Anchor Bay Entertainment announced that they will distribute the film in the United States through Manga Entertainment and L.A. based XYZ Films.[8]
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