THE ESCAPE

Written and Directed by : Marianna Yarovskaya

Produced by : Horya Films

Theme : Contemporary Questions / History / Dance

Format: 1x52'

Original Languages : English & Russian

Materials: Exclusive interviews with Jacqueline Bisset, Liudmila Vlasova (Godunov’s Ex-wife), Michael Segal (LA Times Critic), Maya Plisetskaya (top Bolshoi ballerina, personal partner of Godunov). And exclusive archives: 8 mm footage of Godunov dancing, etc.

Synopsis: THE ESCAPE is a film about one of the greatest Russian ballet dancers, Alexander Godunov. As his equivalent, Mikhail Baryshnikov, they were boyhood chums, training in the top ballet school in Latvia together, and both defected to the US from Russia in the 1970s. At that moment, a new life opened before them. They worked at the American Ballet Theater in New York. They both acted in American films and TV shows - and both entered American stardom... Yet Godunov's life ended tragically in failure, while Baryshnikov successfully reinvented himself as an artist over and over again, becoming an icon of American dance... What was the difference between these two parallel figures that led one to despair, the other to success? Was it Godunov's dream of becoming an "American star" while Baryshnikov wisely remained a "Russian dancer"? We trace their stories from the moment of defection, seeking to examine the paths of life choices - the roles of dreams - and their dangers. THE ESCAPE is a film about the destruction of illusions, about chasing a powerful dream that turns to dust.