The head of the Odessa Film Studio spoke about filming under the threat of drones

Anna Docheva, chair of the board of the Odessa Film Studio, spoke about the studio’s operations amid the war and power outages. She dispelled myths about the profits from the box office performance of the film “Dovzhenko” and noted a severe shortage of technical staff due to mobilization.

Intent interviewed Anna Dochova.

According to her, filming of the feature film about Oleksandr Dovzhenko took place in Odesa amid airstrikes and power outages. Some scenes were shot at critical infrastructure sites. At the same time, the crew was asked not to post anything from the set. Filming wrapped up on May 31, and just 10 days later, the film studio was destroyed by a missile strike.

More than 23,000 viewers have seen the film. According to the head of the film studio, this is a good result given the wartime conditions. Most movie theaters are located in shopping centers that are under fire, so people are afraid to go to screenings.

Speaking about the financial side, Dochova explained that of the announced 4.5 million hryvnias in box office revenue, the producer itself receives only a small share. Cinemas take half of the ticket revenue, and another 10% goes to the distributor. So the company survives on rental income, museum tours, and its own YouTube channel.

In addition, the film studio is facing a staffing crisis due to a shortage of male technicians, as they are being drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Despite this, Odesa filmmakers are preparing new projects, including the film *Letters from a Foreign Woman* about Honoré de Balzac. They plan to cast a French actor in the lead role.

The studio also plans to dub seven of its classic films into Ukrainian—including films by Kira Muratova—and to complete a four-episode historical series about Odesa in 1926.

Юлія Калабайда