The mystical series Mertvoe Ozero (The Dead Lake) was released on the OTT-platform of TNT-PREMIER, which is part of Gazprom-Media Holding, on March 14. The project was produced by Valery Fyodorovich, director of TV-3 channel (part of Gazprom-Media), and the channel’s chief producer Yevgeny Nikishov, as well as the founders of Mediaslovo, Pyotr Anurov and Danila Sharapov. The series Mertvoe Ozero will only be available to viewers on the online platform TNT-PREMIER.
The main roles in the series were performed by Evgeny Tsyganov, Nadezhda Mikhalkova, Pavel Tabakov, Andrey Smolyakov, Lev Prygunov, Alexander Robak and others. The project was shot by Roman Prygunov, who also directed the dilogy Dukhless (Soulless), with the script written by Roman Kantor of the film Khoroshii Malchik (The Good Boy).
Mertvoe Ozero is the first series in the noir genre whose plot brings together elements of northern Russian folklore. The project tells the story of an investigator from Moscow, who comes to a lost city in the Siberian taiga, Changadan, where he begins to investigate the mysterious murder of a tycoon's daughter. In time, the detective from the Russian capital starts to immerse himself in the life of the mysterious city above the Arctic Circle. He constructs versions of the murder and lists a broad variety of suspects, from Saami shamans who live in yurts to local businessmen. But reality soon starts to clash with his versions as he plunges into the secret life of the city hidden away from prying eyes.
“Mertvoe Ozero is, of course, a detective story, but more than that, it is a story about a clash of civilizations - that of the modern Russian world, big money, corporate wars, uranium mines with an ancient, Saami world that has stayed the same for hundreds of years with its shamans and faith in spirits who live in lakes,” said Roman Petrenko, TNT channel’s director.
Mertvoe Ozero tops the list of the most anticipated spring TV series, according to the media outlets KinoPoisk, Afisha, RIA and Komsomolskaya Pravda. The international premiere of the series took place in the United States at the Accolade Global Film Competition festival, during which Yevgeny Tsyganov received the Award of Excellence for an outstanding cinematic effort.