#crowdfunding - The Last Empress of Fashion
True life story of a woman who was born into a poor family but built a $100M fashion empire in 1/6 of the world, fought stage 3 cancer, survived the KGB plot to jail and kill her, fled to Italy with the help of a KGB spy and finally was elected as an ambassador of Made In Italy.
Interview with Director/Executive Producer Gala Pawl
Congratulations! Why are you making your film?
The main reason is that it’s impossible to ever find a true story like this again – it’s so unique that missing it would be a crime. And this story gave me a whole number of reasons to invest my time and efforts into producing and directing it:
First, it is a real story, not a Hollywood screenplay, but it has all the drama and twists and turns of a thrilling action movie. My heroine Mila Anufrieva had been born into a poor family but dreamed of the world of high fashion. She fulfilled her every dream thanks to her persistence, hard work and her talent. Her life proves that anything is possible if you try hard enough. Such stories inspire and give you the energy to go on. Then, she was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and every doctor told her she’d die, but again she did not give up and found the genius surgeon who gave it a try – and she won. But while being treated she got a knife in her back: her company was hijacked by the competitors with the KGB’s help. Since she did not die there appeared a plan to take her down, and she had to flee her homeland. One of the KGB spies actually helped her to leave for a safe haven!
Having started from scratch again in Italy she reached the stellar level again and got elected as an ambassador of Made In Italy. Even after all that, she stayed a Woman and a Human – she spends all her time and money now taking care of over 170 orphaned children in Guinea-Bissau, Africa.
I mentioned her life turning points on purpose: all the obstacles on her path and the way she did overcome them are the reasons I’m on this project.
My heroine is an achiever, a cancer survivor, a woman who did not agree to be a victim, a woman who shares everything she has with those who need help the most. I have read recent research that said that if a girl in her childhood/teenage years hears even one truly inspiring story about a female hero, she achieves more in life because she is motivated and knows that everything is possible. As a mother of a 10 year-old daughter and as a woman, I want all the girls, women and those who battle with cancer to know: never give up, chase your dreams and you will do it.
Every producer and director once finds a story that just can’t be missed, that must be told – and this is The story.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You are getting the chance to see this super-secret “backstage” of the high-fashion world that makes the sole existence of the luxury brands possible. You will see a real-life Cinderella story, but without a fairy-tale prince who solves all the problems: my heroine is so strong she solves it all herself and does it brilliantly. Of course, you just won’t find any other real life true story with a KGB spy risking it all to help a talented woman evade death by fleeing her homeland.
This story has it all. Unlike most of the recent documentaries it has the real drama that makes you want to see "what’s next, what’s next, how will she get out of THAT kind of trouble?" It’s such a great story that I’d compare it to the Oscars-winning ICARUS, in terms of drama, turning points and the unique obstacles my heroine overcomes.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Mila Anufrieva is a one-of-us type of woman: she did not have rich parents or aristocratic roots. She had to achieve everything with hard work, by doing the right thing and hoping for the best. I’d even say she’s Oprah Winfrey type of person.
When you follow the path of her life, you see that she had began with poverty, and after all the obstacles on her way she returns to the other side of poverty; now, she’s able to help children in need just like herself decades ago, and she does help them. This is where personal and universal themes overlap: Mila as a mother, as a role-model for all of us, as the face of human kindness.
The theme of unconditional belief in your dreams and how harsh reality interferes with your plans works throughout the film and absolutely every viewer will relate to that: even though almost nobody had the KGB crosshairs on their head, everyone had seen his or hers dreams shattered seemingly forever, and some of us have the miracle of understanding that this is just the way it should have been because it led you to where you are now.
But the most fascinating part of this story is how – let’s call it Destiny – juggles with what you have and what you want, forcing you to make choices all the time. In Mila’s life, the idea of business separating you from your family was literally implemented: she was blacklisted at the border and could not leave her homeland while her children and her husband were in Italy. And the universal theme of mother doing everything she can and using every chance life has to offer to reunite with her family is huge in this story. Mila’s story is unique because everything intertwines: all the themes do not exist solely on their own.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
That was a long way to the actual production – years and years. So the approach evolved, of course, and as I now see, to the better.
At first we all saw it as a plain biopic-type of story. But with the new speakers our team managed to talk into giving an interview, new details of the past the story started becoming deeper, more three-dimensional and vivid. Finally, I came up with the idea of mixing the documentary interviews with re-enactment scenes so that the audience felt it all as if the story was seamless, even in the places where the present is mixed with the past events. Since I’m directing the documentary part of the film, I’m happy an amazing live action award-winning director Michael Vaynberg joined me to make this project happen: he will direct the re-enactment scenes.
The number and the complexity of everything that happened to my heroine allowed us to turn an ordinary documentary screenplay into a Hollywood movie-like structure based only on these true events. In the end, we’ve got a script that can easily be converted into a Hollywood movie with, say, Emily Blunt as the lead, with only minor corrections. That’s a miracle.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Almost everyone who happens to know Mila’s story for the first time is shocked with how much can a woman handle, how many hardships one can overcome without losing hope and oneself. The feedback we are getting from all over the world is very positive – there really are not too many stories like this in the world, and people feel it and want to see this story on their screens.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not yet. But we’ll see what it is after the film release.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
At the moment I really need people’s support for the film to be produced in its ideal form: please go to igg.me/at/FilmAboutMila and support the project! We do need the journalists to notice this story to help us raise awareness about Mila’s life, fight with cancer and her charity efforts.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I really need bloggers, journalists and any influencers to spread the word about our film campaign and Mila’s life in general and the people to support the project. I am sure Mila is that very type of person you can see on TV channels or as Ellen Degeneres’ guest, because she is a true hero and that type of woman many would love to be.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I plan to make free screenings around USA and Europe for girls, women and those who battle with cancer, specifically to make the impact of the people’s lives to help them realize they must never give up. Even if 1% of the audience absorbs this message and starts using it in their lives, things will be so much better in so many fields.
The other thing I find important is to increase cancer awareness and poverty awareness. There’s still a pretty old-fashioned belief that if you are diagnosed with cancer you will die for sure. It’s not true, and Mila’s life is the proof.
There’s also an issue of the modern world where people becoming more and more hard-hearted. We all see so much violence and we are disappointed so often that we fail to notice there are literally millions of people who do not have basic things like a glass of water, a home, an access to education. I’d be happy if the release of this film attracted extra attention to both cancer-oriented and poverty-oriented charities Mila supports and manages. That’d make a huge impact.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I think there are two key questions:
Firstly: what does it mean to be and stay human throughout one’s life? Many people think they will be kind, generous and helpful as soon as they reach their goals: a million dollars, business success or something else. However, Mila’s life proves there’s never too early and never too late just to be yourself, be human, to hear and see other humans around you, to feel their pain and do your best to ease it.
Secondly: is talent and hard work enough for success in the modern world if you’re a woman? Mila’s competitors openly envied her. They could not win over her in a fair competition no matter how hard they tried: her ideas were better, fresher, her business grip was harder. She didn’t live in the times of MeToo and Time’s Up, so when the powerful men decided to take her down, they just did. So is it really enough to be gifted, talented, hard-working and simply awesome at what you do if you are a woman? Or do you have to cross the red line and start learning the ropes of being harsh and even evil for the sake of protecting the world you create, your family and your life?
That’s a topic we can talk about a lot. And partly we do in this film.
Would you like to add anything else?
Only one thing: please support this project on igg.me/at/FilmAboutMila – without your help a truly brilliant story won’t shine as bright as it should.
Our visual consultant BETH KUSHNICK is the production designer of such amazing shows like The Good Wife, The Good Fight (CBS), Braindead and many other, including A-list Hollywood movies. Denis Panov, my DOP, shot a fantasy feature which will be released in 2019 with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan as the stars. Pavel Shumov finished the development of a yet undiscovered true story of a World War II Jewish hero who had been saving hundreds of people every month for half a year right under the Nazis’ noses, and is going to direct a feature documentary called Stay In’ Hell about the critical flaws of sharing economy services (like AirBnB, HomeAway and other). Michael Vaynberg is invited to direct a couple of grand projects we can’t talk too much about, but you definitely want him onboard if you are making a feature or a TV show.
Interview: November 2018
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
The Last Empress of Fashion
True life story of a woman who was born into a poor family but built a $100M fashion empire in 1/6 of the world, fought stage 3 cancer, survived the KGB plot to jail and kill her, fled to Italy with the help of a KGB spy and finally was elected as an ambassador of Made In Italy.
Length: 90 minutes
Director: Gala Pawl (documentary director), Michael Vaynberd (re-enactment scenes director)
Producer: Gala Pawl (executive producer, USA), Pavel Shumov (producer, USA&Russia), Alexander Mercury (co-producer, UK&France), Alexandra Boot (co-producer, Russia&Belarus)
About the writer, director and producer:
GALA PAWL is an executive producer with over a decade of experience who debuts in 2019 with her feature documentary.
Key cast: Mila Anufrieva (herself), Iris Ivanova (plays Mila in 19-30 years), Nicole Plieva (plays Mila in 7-10 years)
Looking for: crowdfunding supporters, journalists who would be interested in covering this amazing life story, co-producers to share the production costs with
Instagram: @TheLastEmpressOfFashion
Website: www.TheLastEmpressOfFashion.com
Funders: We have our own funds that partially cover the project needs but also started IndieGoGo campaign
Made in association with: EyeShow Pictures (USA), Studio8 (Russia)
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? The film release is planned for summer-autumn 2019