FILMING BEGINS ON ZHIVAGO

Production is underway in Slovakia and the Czech Republic on ZHIVAGO.   The 
highly anticipated 2-part drama stars newcomers KEIRA KNIGHTLEY and HANS 
MATHESON as Boris Pasternak’s doomed lovers Lara Guishar and Yury 
Zhivago, and Hollywood star SAM NEILL as Victor Komarovsky.   Adapted by 
British screenwriter ANDREW DAVIES and directed by Italian filmmaker 
GIACOMO CAMPIOTTI, this lavish production will breathe new life into the epic 
story of love during the Russian Revolution.

Andrew Davies’ adaptation promises to be closer to Pasternak’s original text than 
David Lean’s famous 1965 movie adaptation.  Set against the tumultuous 
background of World War I and the Russian Revolution, ZHIVAGO tells the 
gripping story of the anguished poet and physician Dr. Yury Zhivago, torn 
between his love for wife Tonya and his passion for Lara, whilst his life is thrown 
into turmoil by social forces which change his world forever.   Andrew Davies 
previous adaptations include Pride and Prejudice, The Way We Live Now and 
Bridget Jones Diary.
Rising star, 16 year-old KEIRA KNIGHTLEY (Star Wars – Phantom Menace, The 
Hole, Bend It Like Beckham) and 26 year-old Hebridean actor HANS 
MATHESON (Stella Does Tricks, Mojo, Les Miserables) are the tragic lovers torn 
apart by Victor Komarovsky, played by SAM NEILL (Jurassic Park, The Horse 
Whisperer, The Piano, Omen III).  
Ex-Bond girl MARYAM D’ABO stars as Lara’s mother Amalia alongside 
international talent ALEXANDRA MARIA LARA as Yury’s wife Tonya (Napoléon, 
The Tunnel).  Other casting includes KRIS MARSHALL as Pasha (My Family, 
Iris, Metropolis), ANNE MARIE DUFF as Olya (The Way We Live Now, Reach 
For The Moon), CELIA IMRIE and BILL PATERSON as Anna and Alexander 
Gromyko and HUGH BONNEVILLE as Yury’s father, Andrey Zhivago.

International finance from major European and US broadcasters is behind this 
ambitious adaptation as Granada and E-vision (Epsilon Tv Productions) are 
joined as co-producers by WGBH Boston. ZHIVAGO is directed by Italian 
filmmaker GIACOMO CAMPIOTTI (Il Tempo dell’amore – English title A Time To 
Love) and produced by Granada’s ANNE PIVCEVIC and HUGH WARREN.  
Director of Photography, BLASCO GIURATO, won an Oscar for Cinema 
Paradiso.  Granada’s Controller of Drama ANDY HARRIES is Executive 
Producer, along with GIOVANNA ARATA for E-vision and REBECCA EATON for 
WGBH Boston.

Writer Andrew Davies says:

‘Zhivago is a thrilling, moving, love story about two people caught in terrible times 
- the Great War and the Russian revolution. Most people know it through the 
David Lean film of the sixties - but it was exciting to go back to the book and find 
so much fresh material there that never made it into the film, which people can 
see now for the first time. 

Cinema can give us spectacle - but the intimacy of television can enable us to get 
closer to the heart of the relationships - and I've written an entirely fresh new 
ending to the story which I believe viewers will find heartbreaking and 
heartwarming, both at the same time’.