''The Man Who Saved the World'' is a 2013 feature-length Danish documentary film by filmmaker Peter Anthony about

Stanislav Petrov Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (russian: Станисла́в Евгра́фович Петро́в; 7 September 1939 – 19 May 2017) was a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces who played a key role in the 1983 Soviet nuclear fa ...

, a former lieutenant colonel of the

Soviet Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...

and his role in preventing the

1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident On 26 September 1983, during the Cold War, the nuclear early-warning radar of the Soviet Union reported the launch of one intercontinental ballistic missile with four more missiles behind it, from bases in the United States. These missile attack w ...

from leading to

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

. The film premiered in October 2014 at the

Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each fa ...

in Woodstock, New York, winning; "Honorable Mention: Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature" and "Honorable Mention: James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Narrative Feature." On 22 February 2018 the film premiered in Russia at the Documentary Film Center in Moscow.

Synopsis

On 26 September 1983, the computers in the

Serpukhov-15 Serpukhov-15 ( rus, Серпухов-15) is a military townlet near Kurilovo in Kaluga Oblast which is the location of the western control centre for Russia's Oko satellites. These give early warning of ballistic missile launches, mainly from th ...

bunker outside

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, which housed the command centre of the Soviet early warning satellite system, twice reported that U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles were heading toward the Soviet Union. Stanislav Petrov, who was duty officer that night, suspected that the system was malfunctioning and managed to convince his superiors of the same thing. He argued that if the U.S. was going to attack pre-emptively it would do so with more than just five missiles, and that it was best to wait for ground radar confirmation before launching a counter-attack. The documentary features Petrov's 2006 trip to the US with interpreter Galina. On the trip, Petrov visits the UN, meets among others

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

and visits a decommissioned

Minuteman Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

missile silo A missile launch facility, also known as an underground missile silo, launch facility (LF), or nuclear silo, is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs ...

Production notes

In the film, footage of Petrov today is intertwined with re-enactments of the dramatic moments in 1983. Sergey Shnyryov plays Petrov in the re-enactments. Peter Anthony made the film over a decade; the process was difficult because of Petrov's reluctance to open up. Anthony said: "He is quite difficult to work with, as in his day, you could still go to the

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

for disclosing unauthorised information, and as an ex-soldier, he wasn't really interested in discussing his personal feelings. That though is the beauty of the story."

Awards

2013

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival * Nominated, Best International Documentary

2014

CPH:DOX * Nominated, Politiken's Audience Award * Nominated, Nordic Dox Award

* Won, Honorable Mention: Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature * Won, Honorable Mention: James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Narrative Feature * Nominated, Jury Prize: Best Narrative Feature

2015

Nordisk Panorama Nordisk Panorama Film Festival is an annual film festival for Nordic short and documentary films, founded in 1990 and organized by Nordisk Panorama. From 1990 to 2012, the festival rotated between different cities in the five Nordic countries. S ...

* Nominated, Nordic Documentary Film Award Sunscreen Film Festival, US * Won, Festival Prize: Best Feature Film

2016

Robert Awards (Danish Film Academy Award) * Won the Robert Award for Best Documentary Feature * Nominated for the Robert Award for Best Score * Nominated for the Robert Audience Award

Bodil Awards The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given by the Danish Film Critics Association. The awards are presented annually at a ceremony in Copenhagen. Established in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe. The awards are give ...

(Danish Film Critics Award) * Won the Bodil Award for Best Documentary

References

External links

* Official website
themanwhosavedtheworldmovie.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Who Saved The World, The 2013 documentary films 2013 films Best Documentary Bodil Award winners Danish documentary films Documentary films about the Cold War 2010s Russian-language films Best Documentary Robert Award winners 2010s English-language films