Stephen has a new film called 'City of Birds'!! The character he is playing is named Denis.

'City of Birds' is being directed by Vladimir Michalek (Amerika) and is being filmed in the Czech republic, UK, Italy, and Israel.

At Cinema Soleil, the production page says that the film is a bitter-sweet romance, and gives the following synopsis:

'Following the wave of Russian-Jewish immigration of the late 80-s, Andrei (17), his little sister Nastya and their parents, Vera and Mark, strike out the past, leave everything they have and venture upon a one-way trip into the unknown. They go first to Vienna and then to Ladispoli, an abandoned seashore resort near Rome, where the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the American consulate hold in hand the fates of the expatriates.

By virtue of his young age Andrei assimilates easily into the multi-lingual, heterogeneous world of the refugee camp. He enjoys new adventures, makes new discoveries, finds new friends. However, his youth proves to be also a vice. While his parents worry about their miserable allowance, the father’s sapped health, the upcoming interview with an American consul and the fog-bound tomorrow, Andrei falls in love, head over heels, with a local Italian girl Sandra and migrates to the promised land of his romance.

Andrei and Sandra spend wonderful time together. Their high school English suffices to reveal how much they have in common. Little by little, their relationship grows as strong as a family bond. The only depressing thought that enters Andrei’s mind and quickly comes to poison every second of his happiness is that his days with Sandra are soon to end.

Andrei learns that the waiting period for immigrating to Australia is six months longer than to the US and attempts to persuade his parents to change their final destination. His failure only feeds the fire, and he launches out against his family’s plans, trying to impede the normal course of processing refugees’ applications in order to prolong his stay in Italy. As a last desperate measure, he acts up during the interview with an American consul, ruining his parents’ chances of getting a US visa.

Banned from home, Andrei is forced to steal his food and sleep in a changing cabin on the beach. When he learns that as a result of his interference, his parents' sojourn in Ladispoli will stretch out indefinitely, the news doesn’t bring him any satisfaction. After he sees his nearest, penniless and half-starved, now living in a tiny unheated room in the slums, he begins to perceive his love affair as a forbidden fruit.

Andrei grows up to realize that he can't be happy at the expense of his family’s suffering. He relinquishes his love and does everything in his power to fulfill his parents' life-long dream.'

Last updated:  16th February 2007

TV & Movies I Audio I Theatre   I Biography
SB Homepage I Articles I Updates I Gallery I Site Index