The Whaler Boy
Directed by
Philipp Yuryev


Library Pricing:
DVD $150.00
PPR $350.00
DRL $499.00
PPR+DRL $599.00
To submit an order, request a preview screener, or ask a question contact Maxwell Wolkin
Leshka, 15-year-old boy, lives in an isolated village on the Bering Strait. Like most men in his village, he is a whale hunter. When internet arrives in the village, everything changes in his life. The appearance of an unusual girl on a webcam site fascinates him. The protagonist's state of being in love with an image so far away, the blurred silhouette of a beautiful stranger, leads him to the most courageous act in his life: to embark on a dangerous journey using nothing more than a tiny fishing boat through the raging waters of the Bering Strait towards an unfamiliar world in order to find his love.
DVD Features
Discs: 1
- "There’s an almost fable-like simplicity to this atmospheric coming of age story. The film’s unfamiliar backdrop is captured vividly and intimately...."
- "[A] brilliant premise for a movie and Yuryev delivers on that promise big time. His screenplay is minutely observant, unafraid to explore various themes and truly original. First-time actor Onokhov is a stunner. The two cinematographers Mikhail Khursevich and Yakov Mironichev are also making their feature debut with this film and their work is equally astounding. By capturing the endless expanse and the untouched ancient appeal of Chukotka in wide angles and naturalistic light, they’ve created visual poetry that will be hard to forget."
- "The Whaler Boy is a film about finding our place in the world, universal in its portrayal of the turbulence of adolescence with its first loves, jealousies and yearning for escape, but unique for the place in which it’s set, half-way between two continents, with America on the one side and Russia on the other, the past on one side and the future on the other. "
- "The Whaler Boy is a quietly absorbing story from a part of the world that’s rarely seen on screen."
- "[A] delicately unusual and visually resplendent ... stark but richly satisfying feature."
- "The Whaler Boy is an intimate and immersive coming of age story... entrancing."
Awards & Recognition
Winner
Venice Days Director's Award
Venice Film Festival
Venice Days Director's Award
Venice Film Festival
Winner
Roberto Rossellini Award for Best Film
Pingyao Int'l. Film Festival
Roberto Rossellini Award for Best Film
Pingyao Int'l. Film Festival
Winner
Best Direction
Sochi Open Russian Film Festival
Best Direction
Sochi Open Russian Film Festival
Winner
Best Actor
Sochi Open Russian Film Festival
Best Actor
Sochi Open Russian Film Festival
Nominated
Grand Prize
Sochi Open Russian Film Festival
Grand Prize
Sochi Open Russian Film Festival
Nominated
Golden Star
El Gouna Film Festival
Golden Star
El Gouna Film Festival
Official Selection
Thessaloniki Int'l. Film Festival
Thessaloniki Int'l. Film Festival
Official Selection
Reykjavik Int'l. Film Festival
Reykjavik Int'l. Film Festival
Official Selection
Les Arcs Film Festival
Les Arcs Film Festival
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