PONTUS MAXIMUS PRODUCTIONS is the film production vehicle for writer-director-producer-editor Max Bessmertny.
Max’s work has been shot across the world premiering at numerous film festivals worldwide including Toronto, Tribeca, Montreal, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Macau. One of his projects received the prestigious Kodak Gold Award. Max is finishing the final touches of The Violin Case, his first feature film. It was just featured as a Work-In-Progress in the Festival of Young Cinema in Macau.
narrative FILMS
The Violin Case (debut feature - completed 2024)
A foreign painter goes on a surreal one-night odyssey in search of his lost artwork through the streets of Macau. Inspired by a true story!
The Handover
On the day they move apartments, a couple struggles to get everything in order before the landlord arrives for a final inspection.
Dirty Laundry
Two roommates try to get rid of an old washing machine in Coloane Village, Macau.
Tricycle Thief
After discovering his eviction notice, a tricycle driver goes on a desperate hunt for money.
Sampan
Three characters with separate desires are involved in a love triangle in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Hong Kong.
The Great Debt
A single bank note travels through different hands and returns to its original owner.
DOCUMENTARIES
The Douro Boys
In the Douro valley, five winemakers get together with the aim of exporting Portuguese wine to the world.
What’s Your Art?
A Macau documentary pilot about a 64 year old cardboard collecting grandmother and a Brazilian bodybuilder who reveal the identity of Macau through the pointillist minutiae of their life experience, emotional strength, and driving passions.
COMMERCIALS
Vino Veritas Ad
Wine can transport you to a different place. Wine is a gift. A voyage. Wine is truth.
City of Dreams and Studio City Food and Beverage Ads
Advertising and commercials are a wonderful way for brands, companies, businesses and individuals to tell their stories. Here is a showcase of some of the creative videos that I worked on in the world of hotel and food & beverage.
Southern Comfort | Barber
A spec commercial inspired by the Whatever’s Comfortable campaign by Southern Comfort.
COLLABORATIONS
Mercedes Benz
Directed by Whitney C. Howard and featuring Max as actor.
Dinner at the Museum
A dinner at a museum is a rare event and the production team were commissioned to create a five minute video piece that covered the highlights of the dinner and the AD LIB art show by Konstantin Bessmertny.
Panda Cheese
Directed by Kim Falck and inspired by the Panda Cheese campaign. Max and his art team did the production design.
AD LIB Exhibition Tour
Konstantin Bessmertny's AD LIB show tour at the Macau Museum of Art.
Evian
Directed by Suneeth Kumar Alladi in his naturally comedic style. Max collaborated as director of photography.
O Cravo
A fatal love story set in 1960s Macau. Directed by Antonio Caetano de Faria.
MEDIA COLLABORATIONS
Discover Macao
With a unique east-meets-west culture, Macao’s bounty is rich. From gleaming resort complexes to 17th-century ruins, street-side culinary gems to multiple Michelin stars, there’s plenty for both the modern and the nostalgic traveller.
Sopa de Lacassá: One recipe, two generations
Two Macanese chefs share their take on this classic dish, sharing the value of Macanese cuisine, and how to keep its heritage for generations to come:
A taste of heritage: The sustaining power of Macanese cuisine
United Nations World Tourism Organization winner for video promoting the city’s sustainable gastronomy.
MUSIC VIDEO
Brazilian Device
A producer tries to convince music executives to hire replacements for a band gone missing.
Music video for the band Liquidity
EARLY FILMS
Death of a Parrot
A gluttonous grape addict is barred from the gardens of pleasure. He will only be allowed back if he fulfills the Garden Manager's demands.
Wonton
A mentally challenged dry cleaner falls into temptation.
Shot on 16mm
Proposition
An artist tries to convince a group of casino executives to finance his art project.
ABOUT
Max Bessmertny, Founder and Managing Director
Max Bessmertny is an award winning writer-director whose short ‘Tricycle Thief’ world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Max’s 1980s thriller screenplay “Foreign Cop” was selected by the Torino Film Lab 2019, the Macau Film Market and Cannes Marché du Film in 2020. His first directorial feature film is The Violin Case, which is in its final phase before complete post-production. It was featured in the Festival of Young Cinema in Macau in 2024.
The Violin Case was done with very little resources when the city in which he shot, Macao, was still under strict quarantines and lockdowns due to the then ongoing pandemic. The film was shot over the course of 21 nights and follows a struggling artist as he breaks free from his manipulative gallery and sets off on a one night odyssey to locate his artwork accidentally forgotten in a taxi.
Max founded PMP in 2013 in order to produce and direct videos, commercials and films. His short film Tricycle Thief was the first ever Macau short film to world premiere in competition at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014, for which he later won a Kodak gold award.
In 2015 he was hired by City of Dreams and Studio City to create 40 creative comedic short videos for their food and beverage outlets.
He has written, directed and produced 20 short narrative films (many of them award winners), two short documentaries, over 40 video ads and one full length feature film.
Max earned a masters degree, in Film Production from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and a Bachelor’s in Management and Philosophy from the University of Leeds. Prior to joining the film industry, he worked as a creative specialist at Wynn Resorts and as a freelancer in the art world.