STAR MEDIA Started Filming New International Co-Production "Silence"

The series will be a screen version of the bestselling book of the same name by a Croatian writer and journalist Drago Hedl, the author of many high-profile journalistic investigations.

Having burst into the international market with its productions – "The Last Mercenary" for Netflix, "The Pleasure Principle," "Mata Hari" – Star Media continues strengthening its hand on the world stage.

The principal photography of a new internationally co-produced series provisionally titled "Silence" has started in the Croatian city of Osijek. This is a six-episode adaptation of the first novel, “Election Silence”, being part of the “Slavonian Trilogy,” a best-selling trilogy of novels by a Croatian writer and journalist Drago Hedl that is based on true events.

The series story unfolds in these days in Croatia and Ukraine and narrates about the brutal business associated with the trafficking of people and weapons in Eastern Europe. The main characters are the Ukrainian philanthropist Olga whose niece disappears, as well as detective Vladimir and reporter Stribor from Croatia. Together, they will unravel the mysterious murders of teenage girls that happened in both countries and get on the track of an international criminal conglomerate. Deep human drama, thriller and crime are closely intertwined in the story.

Famous Ukrainian actress, Ksenia Mishina ("Love in Chains," "Markus," "Gypsy Girl") will appear in the series as Olga, Croatian actor Goran Bogdan ("Father," "Fargo," "The Last Panthers") as Stribor, Darko Milas ("Golden Palace") as Vladimir. The series’ director, Dalibor Matanić, is well known for his work on the Croatian TV series “The Paper” (Netflix), and the script was written by Marjan Alčevski (writer for “Success”, HBO Europe). The series is produced in three languages – English, Ukrainian and Croatian.

The idea to film the novels came from Drugi plan, a Croatian film producer ("Success", "The Paper"), which is responsible for the production of the Croatian block of the series. Beta Film, a German distributor, is also a partner of the production. The start of the Ukrainian filming block is scheduled for May 2021, and the completed project is going to be delivered in December 2021.

“We have been preparing this project for more than six years, but the real "wind in our sails" comes when our co-production partners from Star Media came on board, both on the creative and production side. We are really enjoying working on this project together with Russian and Ukrainian colleagues and we are sure that this project will set up a new path of much wider and fruitful pan Slavic co-operation in the field of TV production in the future. "Silence" opens some very important social issues which touch the space from Southern to Eastern Europe and time has come that we speak of them as one voice,” said Nebojsa Taraba, co-founder of Drugi plan.

In Ukraine, the film will be released on the online platform oll.tv, which has already acted as the production partner at this stage and invested in the exclusive rights in the territory of Ukraine.

“I am happy and proud to collaborate on this ambitious project together with our partners, and – our friends now – being the Croatian film producer Drugi Plan, the German distributor Beta Film, and the Ukrainian OTT platform oll.tv. In addition to a breathtaking crime plot, the series features a deep human drama that, I am sure, will resound in the hearts of viewers around the world. Everything converged in the project: an excellent script, a star cast, a multi-award director, and, of course, our partners.

“Silence” will be the first original project of oll.tv. Hope that Ukrainian viewers will also highly appreciate the series because, in addition to the fascinating story, it will feature the most recognizable locations in Kyiv and, of course, favorite actors,” said Vlad Ryashin, President of Star Media.

“We are ready to be the first, to experiment and enter a new stage in the development of OTT platforms – to invest in the production of content that differs from what is produced for Ukrainian TV channels, and to offer this content to our viewers. Oll.tv enjoys more freedom than traditional TV channels; therefore, in addition to the content familiar to our viewers, we will offer new, bolder projects where stories are told frankly and sometimes provocatively. Such series featuring Ukrainian stories will strengthen our offer that already includes the best global TV series.

We have never produced content for OTT platforms in Ukraine before, and we are really happy that we produce this Original, the first one for us and in Ukraine, together with such experienced international partners,” commented Yulia Tribushnaya, Director of oll.tv.

In Croatia, the release of the series is scheduled on Croatian TV channel HRT.

About the project:

Director: Dalibor Matanić

Writer: Marjan Alčevski

Producers: Nebojsa Taraba, Miodrag Sila, Vlad Riashyn, Nadia Rekhter-Gareva, Rita Grebenchikova

Cast: Ksenia Mishina, Goran Bogdan, Darko Milas, Victor Saraykin

Brief Description

The story unfolds in Croatia and Ukraine. The first girl drowned. The second one died of a drug overdose. The main suspect in these deaths very soon turns out to be innocent and... dead too.

While detective Vladimir and reporter Stribor are struggling to solve these murders in Croatia, the niece of Olga, a Ukrainian philanthropist, is missing in Kyiv. Olga's husband, Ivan Hrvatić, one of the most influential people in the Croatian city of Osijek, undertakes to help the investigation. But the girl, so unexpectedly missing, is found dead. In Osijek. Not in Kyiv. And this is the third girl victim. It looks like a serial killer operates in Croatia.

Our heroes – Stribor, Vladimir and Olga – will get to the truth, however each of them will pay a high price for it. Reporter Stribor will have to trade off his moral principles. Detective Vladimir, perhaps, will have to put his ex-wife in prison for murder. And Olga's happy and strong marriage will be under threat because of the shocking story of trafficking weapons and young girls to Europe.