''August Eighth'' (, translit. ''Avgust. Vosʹmogo'') is a 2012 Russian

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

about the 2008 August War. It was produced and directed by

Dzhanik Fayziev Dzhanik Habibullaevich Fayziev (, born July 30, 1961) is an Uzbek and Russian film director, director, film producer, producer and screenwriter. He specializes in Historical film, historical Adventure film, adventure movies. Most notably, he dire ...

Background

The film tells the story of a young single mother who must make her way to South Ossetia in order to reunite with her son whom she had sent away before the war. The story of the war is shown through two different point of view. One is the mother's and the other is the son's, who sees it in terms of a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

story about fighting robots. In comparison to '' Olympus Inferno'' and '' 5 Days of War'', ''August Eighth'' was not marketed as a "search for the truth" film. However, it was recognized as a socially important project, and was filmed at the expense of the Russian State Fund for Social and Economic Support of National Cinematography. Twentieth Century Fox C.I.S., a Russian distributor of

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

distributed the film. The Russian premiere took place on 21 February 2012. It premiered on television on 4 November 2012 on Channel One.

Plot

Kseniya is a 23-year-old

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; feminine pâtissière, ) is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, bakeries, b ...

from

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. She is focused on her new romantic relationship. Her seven-year-old son Artyom Fadeev uses his imagination to escape the pain he feels over his parents' separation. In his fantasy, he sees himself as a superhero called "Kosmoboy". Kosmoboy together with a robot called "Edger Beroev", he imagines engaging in battles against the monster robot "Mrakovlast" (“Darklord”). On August 5, 2008, Kseniya receives a telephone call from Artyom's father Zaur, an Ossetian who serves as a peacekeeper in

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

. Zaur asks Kseniya to send Artyom to live with Zaur's parents in Sidamonta, a village on the border between South Ossetia and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Zaur assures Kseniya that Artyom would be safe. After some hesitation, Kseniya agrees because she wants to take a vacation in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

with her new boyfriend Yegor, who is a banker. Yegor doesn't get along with Artyom and also wants time alone with Kseniya. Kseniya tells Zaur she will only agree if he sends Artyom back when she asks. On 7 August 2008, Kseniya learns from news sources that South Ossetia has become a conflict zone. She calls Zaur and demands that Artyom be brought back to Russia. Zaur tries to convince Kseniya that Artyom is safe and happy because his parents enjoy Artyom's presence. Kseniya doesn't agree. She approaches Yegor at his bank, but he doesn't want to become involved in her family situation. The conversation becomes heated and turns to Kseniya's and Yegor's intimate relationship. The conversation continues loudly as Kseniya departs in the lift and it leaves Yegor publicly humiliated. Kseniya immediately flies to

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

, then takes a bus through the

Roki tunnel The Roki Tunnel (also called Roksky Tunnel, ka, როკის გვირაბი; ; ) is a mountain tunnel of the Transkam road through the Greater Caucasus Mountains, north of the village Upper Roka. It is the only road joining North Osset ...

into South Ossetia. An

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

is fired at her bus. A

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

reconnaissance unit helps Kseniya and the other surviving passengers. The unit's commander, Lyoha, takes Kseniya to

Tskhinvali Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval (, ; , ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, internationally considered part of Shida Kartli, Georgia (except by Russia and four other UN m ...

, the capital of South Ossetia. That night, the

Battle of Tskhinvali The Battle of Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალის ბრძოლა; ) was a fight for the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia. It was the only major battle in the Russo-Georgian War. Georgia ...

begins and the central square is bombarded by Georgian

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-S ...

rockets. Kseniya reaches the Dzau refugee camp. Along the way she calls Zaur, who is driving to Sidamonta to evacuate his parents and Artyom. Kseniya and Zaur arrange to meet in Dzau. When Zaur evacuates his parents, he and they are killed by shelling from a Georgian tank. Artyom is injured and runs from the scene in deep shock. Kseniya calls Artyom on his mobile phone, but he can only say ''Mrakovlast was here... Mrakovlast killed all...''. Kseniya decides to rescue Artyom herself. Meanwhile, Artyom is hallucinating due to his injury and sinks deeper into his fantasies. Kseniya joins Zaur's friend Khasan Baroyev, known as "Ilya" on a Russian military and journalist convoy. Ilya is killed by a Georgian soldier when the convoy is ambushed. Kseniya is saved by Lyoha who is with a reconnaissance unit. Lyoha takes Kseniya to his base which is near where Artyom is hiding. En route to the base Lyoha's vehicle is attacked by a Georgian tank which he evades. At the base, Lyoha must help many refugees sheltering there and so Kseniya goes on alone. Kseniya finds Artyom who is unable to walk. When Kseniya steals a Georgian army

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

, she and Artyom are fired upon. All seems lost but then the Georgian army is attacked with a

Sukhoi Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' ( ('' rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Ground Forces. Th ...

air strike giving Kseniya and Artyom the opportunity to escape. Kseniya and Artyom are stopped by a Georgian soldier, Aleksandr Khoshabaev. He takes pity on them and drives them towards the Russian military position. Kseniya walks over a hilltop to approaching Russian tanks. The leading tank stops right in front of her, and the commander asks her if she speaks Russian. He asks her to get out of his way. Kseniya and Artyom do so and continue walking. Artyom recovers in hospital and learns the fate of his father. He and Kseniya meet with Lyoha, who tells them that the Russian forces have captured the city of Gori, resulting in Russia winning the war. Kseniya and Artyom are then returned to Russia by helicopter.

Cast

Production

The central plot is based on two true stories: a man dragged his ex-girlfriend from

in August 2008; and the second on the producer's friend's son who suffered dissociation. The film was shot from March to August 2011. Most of the scenes of

were shot in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

and

North Ossetia–Alania North Ossetia–Alania (; ), officially the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. It borders the country of Georgia (country), Georgia to the south, a ...

. Most extras were

Abkhazians The Abkhazians or Abkhazes are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A large Abkhaz diaspora population resides in Turkey, th ...

, but the characters, who speak in Ossetian, were played or were dubbed by North Ossetian actors. The official trailer was created in Trailerhouse by Sundown Entertainment.August Eighth trailer
avsquad.com

Film distribution

The premiere of the film took place in

on 17 February 2012 at the cinema Pushkinski. The film was released across Russia on 21 February 2012. The premiere was planned for Defender of the Fatherland Day and so the film had much competition. In the first week of distribution the film was in the lead at the box office and collected more than 140,000,000 rubles (about 5,000,000 dollars) for the first weekend. In total, ''August Eighth'' netted about 10,000,000 dollars in Russian theaters, much less than the gross of Faiziyev's previous film, '' Turkish Gambit''. The début of the film with English subtitles took place in Australia on 1 September 2012 under the title ''August 8th'' at the Russian Resurrection Film Festival 2012.

Home media

In Russia, the film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on 22 March 2012 and on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on 14 June 2012. Neither edition contains any subtitles. A French dub of the movie called ''War Zone'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray in France on 7 August 2013.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:August Eighth 2010s action war films 2012 war drama films 2012 action thriller films 2010s science fiction war films 2012 films 2010s Russian-language films Russian action war films Russian war drama films Russian action thriller films Russian science fiction war films Russian propaganda films Films set in 2008 Films set in Georgia (country) Films set in Russia Russo-Georgian War films 20th Century Fox films Films produced by Fyodor Bondarchuk Ossetian-language films 2010s Georgian-language films 2012 multilingual films Russian multilingual films Russian-language war drama films