8 First Dates (Russian: «8 первых свиданий», romanized: 8 pervykh svidaniy; Ukrainian: «8 перших побачень», romanized: 8 pershykh pobachen') is a 2012 Russian-Ukrainian romantic comedy film directed by David Dodson and Aleksandr Malyarevsky. It stars Oksana Akinshina and Volodymyr Zelenskyy alongside Denis Nikiforov and Ekaterina Varnava.
Contents
Plot
Vera and Nikita don't know each other, but they have one thing in common: they both chose the same venue to celebrate their personal successes. Vera is a successful TV presenter with her own talk show, and she is engaged to Konstantin, a famous tennis player. Nikita is a highly sought-after vet who has proposed to Ilona, a plastic surgeon. Everything is going well for them: they are happy, and their friends support their choices. However, one morning, Vera and Nikita wake up in the same bed, and everything changes. Assuming that this must be the result of a wild night, they run off in different directions, hoping to forget it all as a bad dream.
But the next morning, they wake up in the same bed in the same house, despite each of them being certain that they fell asleep at home. This continues for several more days. Some mysterious force keeps bringing them together, ruining their privacy and perhaps suggesting that they are destined to be together.
Cast
Oksana Akinshina as Vera Kazantseva
Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Nikita Sokolov
Denis Nikiforov as Konstantin
Ekaterina Varnava as Ilona
Olesya Zheleznyak as Zinaida Ivanovna, manager
Yevgeny Koshevoy as taxi driver
Svetlana Khodchenkova as passenger in a taxi
Victor Vasilyev as Alexey
Soso Pavliashvili as cameo (singer at the festival)
Gorod 312 as cameo
Kostya Nakonechny as Kolya
Igor Jijikine as Kolya's father
Yelena Kondulainen as Vera's mother
Victoria Bonya as wedding planner
Awards
In 2013, the film received the Russian National Movie Awards as the Best Russian Comedy of the Year.
2020 ban
In 2020, 8 First Dates was banned by the Ukrainian State Film Agency because one of its actresses, Ekaterina Varnava, visited Crimea during the Russian occupation to attend a comedy show in 2016. She was then blacklisted for five years.