Ronald McQueen
Director of “The Last Cossack”
Meet the Creator
A huge thank you to Ronald for these thoughtful answers and for giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of your work. We at Hollywood Indie Festival are cheering you on as you continue to create. Enjoy the interview below!
What is the central conflict and unique selling point of your project?
In 1939 a massacre on a remote farm in lower Russia (now Ukraine) sees a Red Army militia slaughter everyone except for Katja, a young Cossack girl. Saved by a passing Cossack unit of the resistance, she joins the retreating refugees and Cossack soldiers across battlefield Europe to find safety with the allies at the end of the war. But Stalin wants them back and the Cossacks must fight to save themselves and their culture. This is a heroine in peril drama with an ensemble cast, each with their own stories weaving in and out of Katja’s.
Who is the ideal viewer for this project, and which existing films/series is it most comparable to?
This project is aimed at a wide audience, age range 18 and above and will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the battlefield scenes of Cross of Iron (Peckinpah) and 1917 (Mendes), and also the historical romance of Dr Zhivago (David Lean)
What was the primary inspiration behind this story, and why is now the right time for the world to see it?
Not unlike the inspiration behind 1917, this story was told to me by my parents and serves both as an homage to their courage and an indictment of the political expediency which allowed the forced repatriation of thousands of refugees to the gulags and execution squads of Stalinist Russia. It is also a reminder that in terms of global power politics, especially in Eastern Europe, nothing has changed.
Is the project fully completed, or are you currently seeking distribution, finishing funds, or representation?
This script has won several awards internationally, and with each review has evolved into its present form of a sweeping wartime action drama of romance and betrayal. More importantly, it serves as a calling card for my work; it shows what I can do and provides an introduction to the broad range of award-winning scripts in my personal portfolio. It also hopefully provides another stepping stone towards representation since a script, no matter how good, cannot progress without the support of key industry professionals.