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PanARMENIAN.Net - The bio, to be named "20 Lives" will chronicle the act of heroism of the swimmer who single-handedly saved 20 people out of a drowning bus. Logos Studio will be in charge of the production, RIA Novosti reported.

Synopsys: On a wet September morning the 17-time fin swimmer world champion, Shavarsh, was on his morning run along the shore of a lake when he saw a trolleybus going at full-speed crash off a bridge into the lake. The ripples closed in on the people who were still alive in less than a minute. 92 people in the trolleybus sank to the bottom. The giant vehicle sank ten meters deep.

Not even taking a second to think about it, Shavarsh threw himself into the icy, troubled water. He dove for twenty minutes and brought person after person to the surface.

The unbelievable incident of saving those people set back the grandiose plans of this talented athlete-swimmer to reach his athletic dreams. He ended up in intensive care with massive blood infection because of the high amount of cuts from glass, and double inflamed lungs. For 45 days doctors fought for his life. Despite leaving the hospital with injured lungs, legs, and an allergy to water, Shavarsh returned to elite sports to set his 11th world record.

This is an incredible story of the human spirit, capable of the impossible. It’s a story about a strong person…a hero, giving a second chance to twenty people. The reward for his courageous spirit and bravery was life…that of those he saved and his own.

The sports biopic Legenda Nomer Semnadtsat (Legend No. 17), directed by Nikolai Lebedev, was awarded as last year's best Russian movie at the Golden Eagles ceremony held at Moscow’s film studio Mosfilm on Jan. 30.

Legend No. 17, centered on Valery Kharlamov, a legendary 1970s hockey player, scooped 11 Golden Eagle nominations and collected six awards. The movie's writers Mikhail Mestetskyand Nikolai Kulikov picked up the best screenplay award,Nina Usatova was awarded as the best actress in a supporting role and Vladimir Menshov as the best supporting actor. The best score and best editing awards also went to Legend No. 17.

The award ceremony's other major winner was Geograf Globus Propil (The Geographer Drank His Globe Away), which collected the best film award at Russia's main national film festival Kinotavr last June. At the Eagles, The Geographer scooped six nominations and three wins. Golden Eagles went to director Alexander Veledinsky and the movie's leads Konstantin Khabensky and Yelena Lyadova.

Russia's all-time local box-office champion, Fyodor Bondarchuk's Stalingrad, won four statuettes. Maxim Osadchy was hailed as the best cinematographer, while the film was also awarded for the best production design, best costumes and best sound.

Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, distributed in Russia by Karo Premier, was awarded as the best foreign film released in Russia, while two other Karo releases, The Great Gatsby and Argo, scooped nominations./The Hollywood Reporter 

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Other guests at the pre-premiere screening included Soviet hockey stars Alexei Kasatonov, Sergei Makarov, Vladimir Petrov, Vladislav Tretyak, Vyacheslav Fetisov and the son of the famous hockey player, Alexander Kharlamov, as well as members of the Russian national junior hockey team.

The screening was also attended by International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Killy, President of the International Ice Hockey Federation Rene Fasel, figure skating coach Tatiana Tarasova, filmmakers and actors that play the main characters.

After the film, Vladimir Putin thanked the filmmakers and shared his impressions with the athletes. The President also congratulated one of the young hockey players on his birthday and gave him a wristwatch as a present.

Valery Kharlamov (born in 1948, died in a car accident in 1981) was an outstanding Soviet hockey player, a left-winger for the USSR national team (1969-1980), two-time winner of the Olympic Games (1972, 1976) and eight-time winner of the IIHF World Championship.

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Speech before screening of Legenda No. 17

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Dear guests,

Our national junior team consists of young men under 18 years of age, and tomorrow is the start of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. We felt that today is the right day for presenting this new film made by our cinematographers about our outstanding hockey player.

Our national junior team consists of young men under 18 years of age, and tomorrow is the start of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. We felt that today is the right day for presenting this new film made by our cinematographers about our outstanding hockey player.

I am confident that everyone present here today knows who Kharlamov was and knows why he is referred to asLegenda No. 17. But I don’t think that everyone (other than members of his family and others whom we also rightly call world hockey stars) knows that the main feature that made him a legend was his character. Because when he was a child, doctors gave him a grave diagnosis: a heart disorder. Not only did he overcome this, he became an outstanding player both on our team and in world hockey.

There are many people here who worked with him, who – I can say without exaggeration – fought with him, trained with him and trained him. I mean there are no outsiders here, no people who don’t understand what ice hockey is all about.

I am sure that once this film is released to the general public, it will be popular among hockey fans, sports fans, and others who are simply proud of our nation’s achievements. And Kharlamov was one of those who demonstrated our nation’s successes and its greatness.

Tomorrow, our junior hockey team will begin competing in the world championships. I am confident that today’s event, the screening of this film, will motivate our young players to represent our nation with honour at the championships.

And I would like to thank the creative team for taking on this work and, judging by responses from experts and critics, doing an excellent, artistic job. Today, we will see for ourselves if it is true.

Let’s all thank them.