Director Steven Cantor turns his attention to ballet prodigy Sergei Polunin in his latest documentary, . Having already taken the stage at the 60th BFI London Film Festival, and now returning for an encore at Tallinn's Doc@POFF strand, this feature-length piece follows Polunin's journey from a small Ukrainian town to become the Royal Ballet's youngest ever principal dancer.
Much adored in Britain, Russia and much of the rest of the world, Polunin attracted a lot of public attention. As somebody even remarks in the film, you can't help but watch Polunin when he performs. Nor can you help but be mesmerised by his story, and there isn't really a "but" coming as such either.
It is remarkable that so much footage of the artist has been amassed during his lifetime - clearly evidence to the fact that both his family and his friends could all recognize the fame for which he was destined. A destiny which his family literally split up and travelled to the four corners of Europe to support. Equally, we see what a toll this separation took on a very young Sergei, and we learn in footage spreading decades how the young man was pushing himself twice as hard as his peers so he could reunite his family through ballet by becoming a truly successful star.
This documentary definitely connects well with the audiences and has been nominated for a British Independent Film Award. Scan the QR code to watch the trailer.
