The Panfilov’s 28 is a film devoted to the almost mythical exploits of the 28 defenders of Moscow who fought against elements of the German 11th Panzer Division who vastly outnumbered and outgunned them. The men were under the command of General Ivan Panfilov (hence the name) and were mostly recruits of Kazakh and Kyrgyz origin. They fought fiercely and destroyed 18 German tanks. The heroic actions of the 28 men and came in a time of dire need since Moscow was all but lost during the German offensive in 1941.
It was officially claimed that all of the 28 men died in the battle that took place on 16th of November, 1941, but further evidence denied that claim. It was determined that, in fact, six of the defenders survived. It was a common practice of the Soviet propaganda to exaggerate or dramatize events such as this one, in order to boost the morale of its troops and inspire them for combat.
The initial idea for the film came from the Gaijin Entertainment, which is the company behind the World War II-inspired massively multiplayer online game War Thunder. For the occasion, a studio that was named after the title of the film was in charge of the production. The Panfilov’s 28 Studio managed to reach a budget of 1,700,000 US dollars from the crowdfunding campaign that was organized for the purpose of filming. Under the guidance of a director duo, Kim Druzhinin and Andrey Shalopa, the movie is expected to provide us with the thrill of the Battle of Moscow, first hand. The film is set to release on 24th of November, 2016, but until then, we can feast our eyes on this exciting trailer.