On December 5, the Poklonka cinema at the Victory Museum will host the premiere of the documentary “The Citadel” (12+), commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory and the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress.
The film tells the story of the heroic defender of the Brest Fortress, Kazakh Kasym Zharmenov and his family. Together with other defenders of the citadel, he participated in the first battle on June 22, 1941, was captured and experienced all the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. He escaped and until May 1945 he joined the guerrilla movement in Czechoslovakia. After the war, he returned to his hometown of Shymkent and became a school teacher.
The main characters of the film – Kasym's grandson Denis Zharmenov and great-grandson Timur – have never been to the battlefields of their grandfather and great-grandfather, and in the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, they decide to follow in his footsteps to the Brest Fortress. For them, this trip becomes a deep dive into past events.
— In 2024, I met a famous coach in Kazakhstan, Denis Zharmenov, who told me about his family. It turns out that grandfather Kasym Zharmenov was the hero who defended the Brest Fortress in June 1941, and his memories are still kept in the family. Since neither Denis nor his son Timur had ever been to Brest, I suggested they undertake an expedition following in the footsteps of their heroic ancestors and make a documentary about it. In our case, the name “Citadel” has a double meaning – fortress and family. The author of the project, General Director of the film company SKYFEST, Alexey Nikulin, said: “Walking in the footsteps of heroic ancestors has become a way for our heroes to better understand their family history, as well as their own.”
The film will be introduced to the audience by the film's main character, Denis Zharmenov, and the film's author, Alexey Nikulin.
Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Evgeny Primkov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation Dauren Abaev, film producer Alexander Morev and others were invited to the event.
The organizers are Skyfest studios, Rossotrudnichestvo and the Victory Museum. The project is carried out with support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, Rossotrudnichestvo and the Russian Geographical Society.
Starts at 5:30 p.m.
