PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Philipp Yuryev and Arieh Worthalter, director and actor of the film The Whaler Boy.
A conversation with director Philipp Yuryev and actor Arieh Worthalter about the film, The Whaler Boy, which premiered within the Giornate degli Autori parallel section of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. In this interview we talk about this coming of age story, set in Bering Strait, which is located between Chukotka and Alaska and divides Russia from America, and some of its theme, including how sex is one of its driving forces. Yuryev also shares that he wanted to make a film where the audience didn’t know what would happen next, while Worthalter explains talks about his character and how he believes he represents the young lead protagonist’s conscience.
The Whaler Boy: Leshka lives in an isolated village on the Bering Strait, which is located between Chukotka and Alaska and divides Russia from America. He is a teenager, and like most men in his village, he is a whale hunter who leads a very uneventful life out at the far edge of the world. But the Internet’s recent arrival in Leshka’s village means the predominantly male population now gathers in a shed every evening to watch gorgeous girls thousands of kilometers away dance on the screen of a constantly buffering erotic webcam chat site. For most of the guys, it’s just a bit of fun, but Leshka takes it seriously. He encounters a beautiful girl on the chat site and falls in love with her. Leshka’s first love transforms him beyond recognition: he is now determined to find the camgirl in the real world, where a crazy journey awaits him.