# Firebird (2021 film)
**Firebird** is a 2021 romantic drama film directed by Peeter Rebane, based on the memoir of Russian actor Sergey Fetisov, which tells the true story of a forbidden love affair between two men serving in the Soviet Air Force in Soviet-occupied Estonia in the late 1970s. It is a United Kingdom–Estonia co-production, runs 107 minutes, and stars Tom Prior, Oleg Zagorodnii, and Diana Pozharskaya.[1](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/new%20releases/2022/04/22/firebird/) • [2](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline45/firebird)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Directed by Peeter Rebane; screenplay by Rebane and Tom Prior, from Sergey Fetisov's memoir[1](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/new%20releases/2022/04/22/firebird/) |
| Source memoir | *The Story of Roman* (also published as *A Tale About Roman*), written in the early 1990s under the pseudonym Sergey Nizhny[3](https://firebirdmovie.com/sergeys-story/) |
| Setting | A Soviet Air Force base in Soviet-occupied Estonia, 1977, during the Cold War[4](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/firebird-flare-review/5158068.article) |
| Lead cast | Tom Prior as Sergey Serebrennikov, Oleg Zagorodnii as Roman Matvejev, Diana Pozharskaya as Luisa[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4061620/fullcredits/) |
| Premiere and release | Premiered at the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival (2021); limited US theatrical release on April 29, 2022 through Roadside Attractions[6](https://www.dogandwolf.com/2021/03/bfi-flare-firebird-2021-on-demand-film-review/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/firebird_2022) |
| Reception | 57% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 49 reviews; 7.1/10 on IMDb from about 15,000 votes; US box office gross of $143.7K[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/firebird_2022) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4061620/ratings/) |
| Language | Shot in English, a choice Rebane made for universal appeal to global audiences[9](https://www.foremostfilm.net/features/peeter-rebane-and-tom-prior-on-firebird-and-bringing-a-soviet-era-true-story-of-forbidden-love-to-life) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Sergey Serebrennikov (Tom Prior) is a private counting down the last weeks of his conscription at a Soviet Air Force base in occupied Estonia. His life changes when the fighter pilot Roman Matvejev (Oleg Zagorodnii) arrives at the base and Sergey is assigned to introduce him to it. The two discover shared interests in photography and theater, and their friendship turns into a secret love affair. A love triangle forms with Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya), the secretary to the base commander and a close friend of both men, who is herself drawn to Roman.[10](https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/films/img/epk/Press_Kit_Firebird_092321.pdf)
The affair is endangered when KGB Major Zverev receives an anonymous report implying that Roman has been engaging in what the regime calls immoral conduct with an unnamed private. Roman is warned that a sexual relationship with a man would earn him five years in a hard-labor camp and end his career as a fighter pilot. He denies everything and ends the relationship. A year later Sergey is studying acting in Moscow when Luisa arrives to announce her marriage to Roman; the affair later resumes in secret when Roman enlists for a training course in Moscow, as an escalating KGB investigation closes in.[10](https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/films/img/epk/Press_Kit_Firebird_092321.pdf)
The film takes its title from a scene in which Roman takes Sergey to his first ballet, Stravinsky's *The Firebird*.[10](https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/films/img/epk/Press_Kit_Firebird_092321.pdf)
## The true story behind the film
Sergey Fetisov was born in 1952 in Oryol, Soviet Russia, and served his two-year mandatory conscription in the 1970s at a Soviet Air Force base in occupied Estonia, where he fell in love with a young fighter pilot. He later graduated as an actor from Moscow's GITIS institute, acted in over 40 Soviet and Russian films and television series, and was a founding member of the "Russian Style Theatre" in Oryol in 1994. He published his memoir in the early 1990s under the pseudonym Sergey Nizhny.[3](https://firebirdmovie.com/sergeys-story/)
Rebane and Prior met Fetisov in Moscow and interviewed him about his life while writing the screenplay; they recorded eleven hours of audio that informed details of the performances. Fetisov did not speak English and Prior did not speak Russian, so Rebane translated. Fetisov fell ill in 2017 and died following surgery on May 3, 2017, at age 64. Rebane also obtained permission to scan Fetisov's photo archive, which, along with documentary footage from the era, shaped the film's period detail.[1](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/new%20releases/2022/04/22/firebird/) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-28/review-firebird-lgbtq-romance-military-soviet-union) Prior described the result as inspired by the real relationship rather than a strict biopic.[10](https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/films/img/epk/Press_Kit_Firebird_092321.pdf)
## Production
Accounts of how Rebane first encountered the story differ. The BFI program notes say he came across it through the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where the film critic and actor Sergei Lavrentiev gave him a copy of *The Story of Roman*; the film's official website says he was first approached with Fetisov's memoir *A Tale About Roman* at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011. In both accounts he read the book over a weekend and was moved to adapt it.[1](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/new%20releases/2022/04/22/firebird/) • [3](https://firebirdmovie.com/sergeys-story/)
Rebane wrote a first draft, then brought in producer Brigita Rozenbrika, whom he knew from his years promoting concerts and making concert films. Prior, known for *The Theory of Everything* (2014) and *Kingsman: The Secret Service* (2014), was introduced to Rebane in 2014 with the intention of playing Sergey, and became co-writer and co-producer; the two wrote together for about two and a half years. Production began in early 2018, with shooting from September to November. The cast rehearsed for two months before the shoot, and Prior, Zagorodnii, and Jake Henderson attended boot camps with the Estonian Defence Force in eastern Estonia, digging foxholes and training as conscripts do.[1](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/new%20releases/2022/04/22/firebird/) • [12](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/firebird-actor-director-interview/) • [10](https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/films/img/epk/Press_Kit_Firebird_092321.pdf)
The film was shot in eastern Estonia, Moscow, and Malta.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-28/review-firebird-lgbtq-romance-military-soviet-union) Rebane chose English as the language of the film so that it could reach audiences worldwide; the cast mixes British, Ukrainian, Russian, and Estonian actors.[9](https://www.foremostfilm.net/features/peeter-rebane-and-tom-prior-on-firebird-and-bringing-a-soviet-era-true-story-of-forbidden-love-to-life) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-28/review-firebird-lgbtq-romance-military-soviet-union)
## Release and reception
*Firebird* premiered at the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival in 2021 and screened at festivals including Frameline45 and Outfest 2021.[6](https://www.dogandwolf.com/2021/03/bfi-flare-firebird-2021-on-demand-film-review/) • [2](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline45/firebird) • [13](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/firebird-love-behind-iron-curtain/) Because of its queer content, the film met with protests and obstruction when it played the 2021 Moscow International Film Festival.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-28/review-firebird-lgbtq-romance-military-soviet-union) It received a limited US theatrical release on April 29, 2022 through Roadside Attractions, grossing $143.7K in the United States, and sold to distributors in Benelux, Greece, Scandinavia, France, Australia/New Zealand, and the German-speaking territories.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/firebird_2022) • [14](https://www.screendaily.com/news/romantic-drama-firebird-sells-to-key-territories-exclusive/5171028.article)
Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 57% Tomatometer from 49 reviews, with the critics' consensus describing its intentions as admirable but its approach to the central love story as muted; the audience score was higher, at 83%.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/firebird_2022) Reviewers frequently praised the lead performances and cinematography while criticizing familiar plotting. The Los Angeles Times called it a compelling, tender, and occasionally melodramatic look at forbidden love,[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-28/review-firebird-lgbtq-romance-military-soviet-union) while IndieWire gave it a B- and singled out the chemistry between Prior and Zagorodnii.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/firebird_2022) Some critics questioned the all-English dialogue and the range of accents.[15](https://blog.uclfilm.com/2021/04/07/bfi-flare-2021-firebird-review/) On IMDb the film rates 7.1/10 from about 15,000 votes.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4061620/ratings/)
## Aftermath
The filmmakers later published Fetisov's memoir in English as *Firebird: The Story of Roman*, funded through a [Kickstarter](https://www.edgepedia.org/kickstarter) campaign, fulfilling what they describe as a promise made to Fetisov to share his story.[16](https://firebirdmovie.com/de/the-book/) A 40-minute making-of documentary by Vita Pictura covers the creation of the film and Fetisov's life, and a stage adaptation by Richard Hough, based on the memoir and the screenplay, followed the film.[17](https://vitapictura.co/cases/making-of-firebird-documentary/) • [18](https://firebirdlive.uk/)
## References
1. [Firebird, BFI Southbank Programme Notes](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/new%20releases/2022/04/22/firebird/)
2. [Firebird, Frameline45 festival page](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline45/firebird)
3. [Sergey's Story, Firebird official website](https://firebirdmovie.com/sergeys-story/)
4. [Firebird: Flare Review, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/firebird-flare-review/5158068.article)
5. [Firebird (2021) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4061620/fullcredits/)
6. [BFI Flare: Firebird (2021) on demand, Dog And Wolf](https://www.dogandwolf.com/2021/03/bfi-flare-firebird-2021-on-demand-film-review/)
7. [Firebird, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/firebird_2022)
8. [Firebird (2021) ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4061620/ratings/)
9. [Peeter Rebane and Tom Prior on Firebird, Foremost Film](https://www.foremostfilm.net/features/peeter-rebane-and-tom-prior-on-firebird-and-bringing-a-soviet-era-true-story-of-forbidden-love-to-life)
10. [Firebird Production Notes, The Film Collaborative](https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/films/img/epk/Press_Kit_Firebird_092321.pdf)
11. [Firebird review, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-28/review-firebird-lgbtq-romance-military-soviet-union)
12. [Firebird director and star interview, Digital Trends](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/firebird-actor-director-interview/)
13. [Firebird: Love Behind the Iron Curtain, Golden Globes](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/firebird-love-behind-iron-curtain/)
14. [Romantic drama Firebird sells to key territories, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/news/romantic-drama-firebird-sells-to-key-territories-exclusive/5171028.article)
15. [BFI Flare 2021: Firebird Review, UCL Film & TV Society Journal](https://blog.uclfilm.com/2021/04/07/bfi-flare-2021-firebird-review/)
16. [The Book, Firebird official website](https://firebirdmovie.com/de/the-book/)
17. [Making of Firebird documentary, Vita Pictura](https://vitapictura.co/cases/making-of-firebird-documentary/)
18. [Firebird stage adaptation, firebirdlive.uk](https://firebirdlive.uk/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › Historical dramas and epics › Titles symbols to L › Titles En to L*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license