text=Feature Film in development
Germany, Russia, 120 mins

Their power is absolute. Their love is passionate, violent, real. Their feuds are legendary. Their story is a fairy tale. But true. One of the greatest love stories of all time - the orphan Marfa Skavronska, a simple maid and battlefield whore, falls in love with Tsar Peter the Great. Incredibly, he falls in love with her too…and cannot live without her ever after. Against all the odds, the great Emperor marries the lowly wench.  She becomes his true partner in life - an almost modern relationship. As Catherine I. she goes on to rule the largest Empire in the world. 

Oscar-nominee Agnieszka Holland*s new film tells a staggering, sumptuous story of a woman whose capacity to love is as boundless as her will to rule. Irakli Kvirikadze*s script is an original, funny, bawdy and moving look at an intense story of a love that should never have been. But was.

To be filmed on location in Russia, Poland and Germany.

DIRECTOR: Agnieszka Holland
SCREENPLAY: Irakli Kvirikadze
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Phedon Papamichael
PRODUCER: Jens Meurer
CO-PRODUCER: Chris Curling, Zephyr Films (UK)  
CASTING: Priscilla John 
DEVELOPMENT SUPPORTED BY: Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB), Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM)