Mute Witness (1994)

Country of Origin: Germany / UK / USA / Russia
Year of Production: 1994
Running Times: 95 mins
Length: 2558 metres
Format: colour     35mm     Arriscope
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Avrora Media / Cobblestone Pictures / Comet Film Produktion GmbH / Patoss Films
Executive Producer: Richard Claus
Line Producer: Marina Kapustina
Producers: Alexander Buchman, Anthony Waller, Norbert Soentgen
Co-Producers: Alexander Atanesjan, Grigori Ryazhsky
Associate Producers: Pieter Lony, Werner Knig
Production Manager: Tatiana Zhigaeva

SCRIPT
Script: Anthony Waller
Script Consultants: Marcus Rosenmüller, Martin Thau, Ted Gerschuny

DIRECTION
Director: Anthony Waller
Assistant Directors: Boris Blank, Marat Rafikov

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Egon Werdin
Camera Operators: Anthony Waller, Egon Werdin, Uri Dokuchaev
1st Assistant Camera: Stefan Austmeyer
2nd Assistant Camera: Kiril Fedin-Krugliakov
Assistant Camera: Thomas Merker
2nd Unit Assistant Camera: Alexei Kutsnetsov
Clapper Loaders: Elena Dunaykina, Jekaterina Rudionov
Primary Gaffer: Boris Lamdon
Secondary Gaffer: Vladimir Rogozin
Primary Lighting Technicians: Andrej Laptev, Dimitri Vostrov, Genady Lobachlov, Grigory Kunakovsky, Valentina Andreanova, Victor Bailov
Secondary Lighting Technicians: Dimitri Krilov, Nikolai Porschnev, Sergej Beliakov, Sergej Svetliakov
Key Grip: Oleg Zhuravfiov
Grips: Anatoli Sokolov, Ivan Mandur, Michail Shikaliov, Nikolai Ivanishin, Uri Hazanov
Stills: Anatoli Pashvikin, Nikolai Gnesiuk
Video Assist Operator: Anton Kuligin
Colour Timer: Jrg Eybl
Cameras: Arriflex

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Peter R. Adam
Assistant Editor: Mamuel Laval
Negative Cutter: Bert Brücker

MUSIC
Music: Wilbert Hirsch
Conductor: Konstantin Krimets
Orchestrator: Boris Jojic
Music Recording Supervisor: Aeseny Lapasov
Music Recordist: Frank Reinke

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Albert Avramenko
Boom Operators: Alexander Kochubey, Valery Sharov
Re-Recording Mixer: Richard Borowski
Assistant Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Matthias Münster
Supervising Sound Editor: Manuel Laval
ADR Editor: Peter R. Adam
Sound Effects Editor: Manuel Laval
Assistant Sound Effects Editor: Emilie McLaughlin
Foley Artist: Jrn Poetzl
Sound Trainee: Benedict Just
Sound Edited At: Solid Sound

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Irina Morozova, Masha Smirnova
Costume Designer: Svetlana Luzanova
Wardrobe: Svetlana Avdeeva

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Victor Orlov, Pavel Terchov

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: Optical Art
Visual Effects Supervisor: Christian Burgdorff

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Matthias Kammermeier
Art Director: Barbara Becker
Set Dressers: Tamara Garanch, Valeri Gorkov, Valery Semionov
Props Coordinator: Stephie Kammermeier
Property Master: Yelena Shkatova
Props Assistants: Ludmilla Tebiakina, Victor Tolkochlov
Construction Architects: Vladimir Murzin, Vladimir Pasternak

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Alexei Aleshkovski
Production Accountant: Rita Kovalenko
Production Assistants: Alexander Sharafutdinov, Evgeny Kovalchuk, Rosa Kulabuhova
Production Assistants (Germany): Ariane Büsch, Pia Greschner, Viola Winokan, Karin Jensen, Martina Elsner
Assistant to Anthony Waller: Natalia Poliushkina
Computer Programmer: Karl-Ludwig Frick

LOCATIONS
Locations: Moscow, Russia
Location Managers: Elena Boguslavskaya, Valeri Bondarenko

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Sergei Vorobiov
Stunts: Elia Antonova, Aleksandr Balabushevich, Sergej Chekrigin, Vasily Grishin, Zhana Izosimova, Uri Sisoev

CASTING
Casting: Noel Davis, Elena Denisova, Nina Sokol-Matsuk

CAST
Marina Zudina (Billy Hughes)
Fay Ripley (Karen Hughes)
Evan Richards (Andy Clarke)
Oleg Yankovsky (Larsen)
Igor Volkov (Arkadi)
Sergei Karlenkov (Lyosha)
Mystery Guest Star (real name: Alec Guinness) (The Reaper)
Nikolai Pastukhov (Janitor)
Stephen Bouser (Lovett)
Valeri Barahtin (Mitja)
Olga Tolstetskaya (actress)
Denis Karasyov, Igor Ilyin (fake policemen)
Oleg Abramov (double)
Vladimir Salnikov (lab assistant)
Sascha Buchman (Alex)
Konstantin Sitnikov (angry props manager)
Regina Peter (Telephone operator's voice)
Pete Drummond (additional voices)
Norbert Soentgen (peeping tom)
Alex Bureew
Nikolai Chindjaikin
Larisa Husnolina
Ludmilla Makeeva
Naumenko Vasheslav
Natalia Poliushkina
Alexander Piatkov
Uri Sherstiniov

PLOT SUMMARY

Billy Hughes is mute and a make up artist working on a slasher film being filmed in Moscow. After filming ends one day, she finds herself accidentally locked in the studio overnight where she witnesses a brutal killing. She struggles to stay alive as the killers, a gang of snuff film-makers, try to find her and prevent her from alerting the authorities.

AVAILABILITY

Argentina
Theatrical Distributors: Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International
Video Distributors: LK-TEL
DVD Distributors: LK-TEL

Brazil
Video Distributors: LK-Tel Vídeo

Spain
Theatrical Distributors: Columbia TriStar Films de EspaÏa S.A.

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Sony Pictures Classics
Video Distributors: Columbia TriStar Home Video
Laserdisc Distributors: Columbia / Tristar (41176)

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Argentina
Rating: 18

Australia
Rating: R

Chile
Rating: 18

Finland
Rating: K-16

Germany
Rating: 16

Peru
Rating: 18

Spain
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 18

USA
Rating: R (for violence and a strong scene combining sex and violence)

AWARDS

1996
Gérardmer Film Festival, France
Special Jury Prize (Anthony Waller) - winner
Special Mention (Maria Sudina) - winner (for her acting)

1995
Nika Awards
Best Producer (Grigori Ryazhsky, Aleksandr Atanesyan) - winner

TIMELINE

1994
October
21: Ukraine - theatrical release

1995
September
10: Canada - shown at the Toronto Film Festival
15: USA - theatrical release
28: Germany - theatrical release
29: Austria - theatrical release

October
30: Spain - theatrical release

November
1: Belgium - theatrical release
16: Argentina - theatrical release
17: Norway - theatrical release
24: Denmark - theatrical release

1996
January
19: UK - theatrical release

February
7: France - theatrical release
8: Netherlands - theatrical release
9: Sweden, Switzerland - theatrical release
20: USA - laserdisc release (Columbia / Tristar (41176))

April
6: Japan - theatrical release

POSTER TAGS

She Can't Speak. She Can't Scream. She Can't Beg For Mercy.

She Won't Be Silenced.

En stum Make Up-kunstner bliver vidne til et brutalt mord.

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Mykkä todistaja - Finnish title
A Néma tanú - Hungarian title
Não Falarás! - Portugese title
Gli occhi del testimone - Italian title
Stumme Zeugin - German title
Témoin muet - French title
Testemunha Muda - Brazilian title
Testigo mudo - Argentinean / Spanish title
Tyst vittne - Swedish title

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Empire February 1996 p.44 (UK)
review (by Kim Newman)

epd Film vol.12 no.10 (1 October 1995) p.38 - German title
review (Stumme Zeugin by Georg See len)

FilmMagasinet August / September 1995 p.24 (Norway)
review (by Dag Tufte)

Premiére February 1996 p.22 (France)
review (by Christophe Carriere)

NEWSPAPERS

Diário de Notícias 16 June 1999 p.55 (Portugal)
review

KEYWORDS

film making, mutes, snuff movies, twist endings

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009