''Kandagar'' (russian: Кандагар; also known as ''Kandahar'') is a 2010 Russian historical action film detailing the escape of a Russian crew from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

at the hands of

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

fighters on August 16, 1996. The film stars some of Russia's most famous actors, Vladimir Mashkov,

Andrei Panin Andrei Vladimirovich Panin (russian: Андре́й Влади́мирович Па́нин; 28 May 1962 – 6 March 2013) was a Nika Award-winner Russian actor appearing in film and television, and a director. Biography Early life Panin was bo ...

and Alexander Baluyev. The movie is based on the Russian pilot's,

Vladimir Sharpatov Vladimir Ilyich Sharpatov (russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Шарпа́тов, born March 21, 1940, Krasnogorkiy village of Zvenigovsky District, Mari El) is a civil aviation pilot and Hero of the Russian Federation (1996). An Ilyushin I ...

, diary. The film was released in Russia on April 4, 2010. The

Andrey Kavun Andrey Olegovich Kavun ( uk, Андрій Олегович Кавун; russian: Андрей Олегович Кавун; ) is a Russians, Russian film director and screenwriter of Ukrainians, Ukrainian origin, notable for Historical fiction, hist ...

film is the first to depict Russians in Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal from the country.

Background

On August 3, 1995 a

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...

from the Taliban's air force

forced down ''Forced'' is a single-player and co-op action role-playing game developed by BetaDwarf, released in October 2013 for Windows, OS X and Linux through the Steam platform as well as Wii U. It is about gladiators fighting for their freedom in a fan ...

a Russian

Ilyushin Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a comm ...

plane with seven Russian nationals on board. The aircraft was forced to land at a Taliban controlled airfield near

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

. The men were held prisoners for more than one year by the Taliban which controlled about half of Afghanistan at the time during the

Afghan Civil War War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

. The movie follows their captivity, day-to-day survival, and escape from

. Unexpected negligence from Russian diplomats caused the prisoners to take steps toward their freedom themselves. The captain was forced to teach Taliban fighters to fly the plane, and the rest of the hostages were allowed to visit their aircraft for maintenance. At some point the Russian crew worked out the escape plan, and during one of the maintenance visits for landing gear work, they were able to gain control over the plane. Despite interception efforts by Taliban base guards, which caused the aircraft to start the takeoff having only half of the runway, they were able to take off. Despite several technical difficulties immediately after takeoff, they finally gained a safe cruising altitude and speed.

Cast

Aleksandr Baluev Aleksandr Nikolaevich Baluev (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Балу́ев; born 6 December 1958) is a Soviet and Russian theatre and film actor who appeared in more than 100 films and numerous stage productions since 1980. ...

- Vladimir Ivanovich Sharpatov, pilot * Vladimir Mashkov - Serega, co-pilot *

- Alexander Gotov, navigator * Alexandr Golubev - Vitek, boardwriter * Bohdan Beniuk - Roman Vakulenko, flight engineer *

Aleksandr Robak Aleksandr Removich Robak (russian: Александр Рэмович Робак; born 28 December 1973) is a Russian actor, director, film producer. He appeared in more than fifty films since 1999. One of the most popular and best Russian actors i ...

- Mark

References

External links

*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kandahar 2010 films 2010s Russian-language films 2010s historical action films 2010s action war films Russian aviation films Russian historical action films Russian action war films Russian war drama films Films set in Afghanistan Thriller films based on actual events Films directed by Andrey Kavun Films set in 1995 Films set in 1996

Background

Cast

See also

References

External links