Russian screenwriter Aleksandr Borodyanskiy announces his latest script, and the beginning of the world’s first Russian-Canadian co-production
Professor Aleksandr Borodyanskiy, a well-known Russian screenwriter, film director and actor, has announced he is working on his latest feature film script. When complete, the screenplay will tell an intriguing story about the arrest of a suspected Kremlin spy in Canada. The script has already been registered with the copyright societies of Russia and Canada under the name Canadian Spy Kremlin.
The working title for the film is Trojan, and Borodyanskiy has announced that his script is almost complete. When the finished screenplay is ready to enter production, it will mark the beginning of the world’s first co-production between Russia and Canada.
Borodyanskiy is excited to announce his work on this script, as he has been fascinated with espionage themes since his early years. “For me, a spy is a person whose life is interesting and extraordinary,” said Borodyanskiy.
Despite the theme’s serious nature, Borodyanskiy’s screenplay will be a lyric drama and tragic comedy. The film will be filled with both humor and irony, with a plot loosely based on the story of Paul William Hampel.
“The prototype of my film’s hero is a man named Paul Hampel, who was arrested in Canada last November, and deported to Russia in December,” said Borodyanskiy the to Russian information agency Interfax.
Hampel was a fictitious name used by a man who was arrested at a Montreal airport in November 2006, after the Canadian government accused him of being a Russian spy. Hampel later admitted through his lawyer that he was indeed a Russian citizen, with no legal status in Canada, but he did not admit to being involved in espionage. During Hampel’s trial, a Federal Court judge agreed to withhold the man’s real name over concerns for the safety of his family. In exchange, Hampel did not contest deportation to Russia.
The man living as Hampel had managed to obtain a valid Canadian passport, and had made frequent trips to Europe during his time in Canada. Interfax picked up on a possible connection between the story of Paul William Hampel and that of another famous Russian dissident named Aleksandr Litvinenko. When asked whether the film will touch on the famous story of the poisoning of ex-KGB agent Litvinenko, Borodyanskiy withheld details, and replied “as far as Litvinenko is concerned I can only say that my hero has also been visiting Europe on numerous occasions as well.”