EXCLUSIVE: The DGA, Primetime Emmy, and Peabody-winning director, producer, and actor Ben Stiller (Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost), and Oscar-winning producing partner John Lesher (Birdman) have joined dissident Russian short film Extremist as executive producers.
The award-winning work by Russian-American director Alexander Molochnikov – which is a contender in the live action short category of the 98th Academy Awards – was shot in Europe with a Russian cast and crew, many of whom are living in exile for their safety.
They include three-time Camerimage-winning cinematographer Mikhail Krichman, the long-time collaborator of Andrey Zvyagintsev’s on Leviathan and Loveless, with other credits including The End and Vermiglio, who left Russia in 2022.
The short is inspired by the true story of Sasha Skochilenko, a Russian artist and musician who was arrested and imprisoned for seven years for replacing four price tags with anti-war messages. It explores the personal cost of dissent expressed on a sticker in a time of rising censorship and authoritarianism.
Extremist
“Alexander’s stunning film Extremist is a riveting, cinematic experience that immerses us in the tragedy of anti-war art and activism in Russia where the human right to free speech comes into conflict with an authoritarian system that is tightening its vice. We strongly believe that people around the world need to see this film,” said Stiller and Lesher.
Molochnikov’s ascent as one of Russia’s most promising young directors – which saw him direct operas and ballets at Moscow’s renowned Bolshoi Theatre as well as plays at the Moscow Art Theatre – came to an abrupt halt in 2022 when he publicly criticized his country’s war in Ukraine.
Facing threats, he relocated from his home city of Saint Petersburg to the U.S., where he joined the directing program at Columbia University, graduating in 2025.
Jean Chapiro and Forma Pro Film are the film’s producers. It stars Viktoria Moroshnichenko (Beanpole, Limonov), Tinatin Dalakishvili (Extraction 2, Hostages, Medea), the 87-year-old veteran actress Lilian Malkina, and Arthur Smolyaninov.
Further executive producers on the short include Oscar-nominated director Ramin Bahrani (The White Tiger), Oscar-winning producer Odessa Rae (Navalny), Rick Schwartz (Black Swan) and Oscar nominated producer, Sheryl Crown (EP on Searching For Sugar Man).
The film premiered at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival and has since won two student BAFTA Student Film Awards and the Oscar-qualifying Jury Prize at the 2025 New Hampshire Film Festival. Extremist is a recipient of the National Board of Review’s 2025 NBR Student Grant.
“This is the story of all those who have lived and continue to live in Russia, disagreeing with its policies. Of course, this message is not only for Russians and about Russians; it is a story that could become an American one tomorrow,” said Molochnikov.
“Back in 2012, we in Russia thought we were living in a fairly European, at times democratic country. Authoritarian power comes subtly. One can miss the moment when the choice is before you: to compromise or to stick to your principles. People like Sasha prove that this choice is always there.”
