NYFA Acting Alum Anatolii Panchenko Stars in French Hit ‘Infiniti’

New York Film Academy (NYFA) Acting for Film alum Anatolii Panchenko (Анатолий Панченко) was cast in the acclaimed mini-series, Infiniti. The series premiered at the Cannes International Series Festival, an independent association that aims to highlight series from around the world. This year the Cannes International Series Festival celebrates its 5th anniversary but the festival has already climbed the ranks of note-worthy festivals with highly-anticipated premieres. Past screenings and premieres include #FreeRayshawn, Killing Eve, Call My Agent!; and in April, Infiniti, produced by French powerhouse Canal +, premiered Out of Competition alongside Halo.

The mini-series was directed by French director Thierry Poiraud (Black Spot, Don’t Grow Up, and Goal of the Dead) and written by Stéphane Pannetier (Research Unit, Les Ombres Rouges) and Julien Vanlerenberghe (Les Ombres Rouges, Famille d’accueil), the series follows a crew aboard the International Space Station after discovering the murdered corpse of a fellow astronaut on a roof in Kazakhstan. Now in search of the culprit, a French astronaut and Kazakh cop work together to solve the crime.

Poiraud, Vanlerenberghe and Pannetier sat with Canal + to discuss the hit series. Vanlerenberghe says that the series was born out of a shared desire between him and Pannetier to create a project about outer space but from an “earth point of view.” The duo was inspired by spaceports like Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan (leased to Russia) because the spaceport is in the middle of nowhere and is not often depicted in cinema or TV. Poiraud told Canal+ that the trio found it difficult to scale their ambitions for the six-hour long mini-series. Once they began filming, they faced financial and geographical complications: Kazakhstan was far-removed and production was costly. However, Vanlerenberghe insists that constraints give birth to ideas. The show evolved, day by day, until the last day of shooting.

Infiniti is an ambitious series, the show was filmed in France, Kazakhstan and Ukraine and was filmed in three languages: Russian, French and (primarily) English. NYFA Alum Panchenko starred alongside a stellar international cast: Céline Sallette (France), Daniyar Alshinov (Kazakhstan), Vlad Ivanov (Romania), Lex Shrapnel (England), Karina Arutyunyan (Uzbekistan), Ellora Torchia (England), Laurent Capelluto (Belgium), Jarreth Merz (Switzerland), and Samal Yeslyamova (Kazakhstan). There was not a shortage of languages on set, amongst the cast and crew a total of six languages were spoken.

The efforts of actors like Anatolii Panchenko, the creators, and production crew proved to be successful. Since its premiere at Cannes International Series Festival, the show has garnered wide acclaim for its ambitious blend of sci-fi, mystery and romance. Read more about Anatolii’s work on Infiniti as well as his feature in a OnePlus Nord 2 5G commercial.

The New York Film Academy congratulates NYFA Acting for Film alum Anatolii Panchenko for his work on Infiniti!

 

Please note: NYFA does not represent that these are typical or guaranteed career outcomes. The success of our graduates in any chosen professional pathway depends on multiple factors, and the achievements of NYFA alumni are the result of their hard work, perseverance, talent and circumstances.