NEON announces that they have acquired U.S. rights to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize. Written by Konchalovsky and Elena Kiseleva, the film was produced by Alisher Usmanov.  This morning, Dear Comrades!, which stars Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, Sergei Erlish, was announced as Russia’s official submission  for this year’s Academy Awards .

When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist. Dear Comrades! received critical praise out of the Venice Film Festival, with Variety calling it “scintillating” and “meticulous and majestic, epic in scope and tattoo-needle intimate in effect,” and The Playlist describing it as “a fascinating blend of dark satire and bleak archaeology.”

Ayo Kepher-Maat negotiated the deal for NEON with Jean-Christophe Simon and Julien Razafindranaly from Films Boutique.