Scenery, a joint venture with Banijay Benelux, today announces it is partnering with Sarah Jessica Parker’s Pretty Matches Productions on Front Row, a feature-length premium documentary following a group of talented Ukrainian ballet dancers, produced in collaboration with Banijay Rights. The Emmy-award winning producer and actress will serve, alongside The Ruderman Foundation, as Executive Producer with Scenery (Human Playground for Netflix) producing.
Front Row is directed by Miriam Guttmann (multi-award-winning director of Seeds of Deceit) and is represented globally by Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of media and entertainment powerhouse Banijay.
In this extraordinary feature, Guttmann follows a group of Ukrainian dancers in exile, as they form a new ballet company, ‘United Ukrainian Ballet’. While performing Alexei Ratmanskiy’s version of ‘Giselle’ in Washington D.C., Alexis, one of the leading ballet dancers, befriends Oleksandr, a front-line soldier, who lost both his legs in battle on the Ukrainian border with Russia. A friendship forms and Oleksandr is welcomed into the rest of the ballet company. Subsequently joining the ballet company, he remains even more determined to dance with his disability.
A tale of adversity, the devastation of war remains evident through video calls between the dancers and their families back home, contributing to a deep sense of survival guilt among the dancers, especially given Oleksandr’s condition. Through collaborative choreography and performances, the Front Row, and the front line, symbolically merge, emphasising the strength and resilience of everyone involved.
Sarah Jessica Parker is an award-winning actor, producer, and businesswoman. Parker starred as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City (1998-2004), a role she reprised on the HBO Max show And Just Like That which premiered in 2021. Parker served as an executive producer for both series. She recently starred on Broadway opposite her husband, Matthew Broderick, in the revival of one of the great American comedies, ‘Plaza Suite’, which will be showing at London’s Savoy Theatre for the very first time from Wednesday, January 17th through Sunday, March 31st.
Parker also currently serves as a Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the New York City Ballet.
Sarah Jessica Parker, Executive Producer, Pretty Matches Productions: “Front Row puts perseverance and the human condition on display against the punishing backdrop of war. Giving these dancers an international platform to tell their stories through the power, beauty and grit of ballet is a profound honor.”
Isidoor Roebers, Founder and Producer Scenery: “Front Row is set to be a fascinating insight into the world of ballet, showcasing the unwavering determination and dedication of a group of dancers from Ukraine. Front Row is a nuanced and multi-layered piece, giving a sneak peek into an untapped world of dance and adversity. Sarah Jessica’s involvement in the project, thanks to our partnership with CAA, will undoubtedly add an enriching and inspiring dimension, making it an unmissable title for buyers around the globe.”
Simon Cox, EVP Content & Acquisitions, Banijay Rights, said: “We were captivated to join Scenery in producing this incredible story from the outset and now with the equally passionate Sarah Jessica Parker on board, we are excited to present this feature documentary to the international market.”
Front Row is made possible with the support of the Netherlands Film Production Incentive and Banijay Rights, which will globally distribute the title. Sarah Jessica Parker and Alison Benson executive produce for Pretty Matches Productions, with co-executive producer Claire Demere and associate producer Gaby Edwards. The film is supported by executive producers The Ruderman Foundation and Bart Meuter.
The film is currently in postproduction and is expected to be complete in early 2024.
The project joins Banijay’s prestigious slate of documentaries unveiled for MIPCOM 2023.