Vanguard Cinema has released Vanja d’Alcantara’s Award winning debut feature Beyond the Steppes on DVD in the US. Earlier this year the release studio did the same for Dorothée Van den Berghe’s My Queen Karo.
Beyond the Steppes tells the story of a woman’s forced journey to the steppes of Central Asia. Nina, a young Polish woman, is deported with her baby by the Soviet Army in 1940, to the deep hostile lands of the USSR, where she is obligated to work under the control of the Russian political police.
Actress Agnieszka Grochowska, who played the part of Nina in the film, won the Award for Best Actress at the Ostend Film Festival 2011. Besides selections at Karlovy Vary, Tribeca, Toronto and many more, director Vanja d'Alcantara was also rewarded with an award for Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2011.
Flemish producer for Beyond the Steppes is Annemie Degryse of Lunanime. The film was made with the support of amongst others the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) and is represented internationally by Paris-based sales agent Doc & Film Intl.