ST. PETERSBURG, November 2. /TASS/. Renowned Russian film director Alexander Sokurov’s movie Skazka (or Fairytale) will be released in Spain, Portugal, Italy and a number of other European countries in the coming months, the filmmaker told TASS on Wednesday.

"Spain, Portugal, Serbia, France and Italy - this is where the movie is going to be released. I think Spain and Portugal will come this year too, if I’m not mistaken. France will follow early next year, they are getting ready for the release but some more preparations are going to be made. In Serbia, if I’m not wrong, the release is planned for as early as December," Sokurov specified.

"Frankly, I’m happy that things are unfolding the way they are. I thought <…> judging by how frightened the French were by the move in Cannes, that they would not have the courage to approach the picture, but this proved wrong. They are very willing to see it," the filmmaker noted. According to him, the movie’s form, tone and duration are the reasons for the broad public interest. "It’s not long (just an hour and 20 minutes), and I believe, it’s a very appropriate duration for such a historical movie because you don’t get bored despite its complex content. It also has music in it, as well as many dialogues among other things," Sokurov noted. "I think that our team managed to achieve its goal. It was very difficult because no one had ever faced these sorts of technical issues in this language segment and in such a form. We were the first and we managed to succeed," he stressed.

Fairytale is a Russia-Belgium co-production that recounts World War II using fantasy. The movie includes documentary footage and uses technical means to create animated images of Josef Stalin, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Napoleon Bonaparte. The characters interact with each other, engage in disputes, express their views, reflect on their life, the goals they wanted to achieve and what they eventually attained. The movie’s world premiere was held in Switzerland’s Locarno, with screenings taking place later in South Korea and the Japanese capital of Tokyo.