The love story of the son of Imam Shamil Jamalutdin and Lisa Olenina against the backdrop of the dramatic events of the military history of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. Jamalutdin went down in history as a "great hostage", and the film is an attempt to answer the question: a hostage of big politics or big love. The historical context of the decline of the Nikolaev era, against which the story of love and betrayal, honor and duty, service to the motherland and loyalty to this word unfolds, will become the key to the film.
Production
Lavish recreation of 19th-century Dagestan and St. Petersburg courts.
Acting
Amin Khuratov's devastating restraint as the hostage prince.
Costume
Military uniforms and Caucasian dress clash with gorgeous tension.
Director
Anton Sivers
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Jamalutdin was exchanged for Shamil's family after decades in Russian captivity, eventually becoming a general in the tsar's army—a historical twist so wild the film barely needs fiction.
This 2022 release sparked debate in Russia about whose story gets told—Chechen director Kubaev and Russian Sivers co-directing a film about Dagestan's most famous hostage became its own political statement.
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