MAIN CHARACTERS AND CAST
 
Pudana Last of the Line was cast entirelyn with indigenous Nenets people, non-professional actors and actresses apart from director Anastasia Lapsui.
 
Neko as a young girl – Aleksandra Okotetto
The protagonist of Pudana Last of the Line is Neko, a young Nenets girl who lives with her family in the tundra of the Jamal peninsula. She is taken from her home to a Russian boarding school where she is re-named Nadja.
As a young girl Neko is played by Aleksandra Okotetto. She lives in Yamal in a village or Yarsele and goes to school. Aleksandra acts on the screen for the first time on Pudana Last of the Line.
 
Neko as an adult – Nadezhda Pyrerko
The story of Neko is told by her older self, now Nadja, a Nenets woman estranged from her native roots. She is portrayed by Nadezhda Pyrerko, a Nenets teacher. She plays a character based on herself and her own life story.
 
Neko’s grandmother – Anastasia Lapsui
Neko’s feisty grandmother is played by Anastasia Lapsui, the director and screenwriter of Pudana Last of the Line. She is herself a native born Nenets. Neko’s grandmother performs a native ritual which the local shaman refuses to do.
 
Neko’s father – Jevgeni Hudi
Neko’s father understands that her daughter doesn’t want to leave her home teepee and go to boarding school. However he cannot change her future. Nekos father is played by Jevfeni Hudi, who works in the Yamal as a reindeer herder.
 
Neko’s friend Parasi –  Radion Anaguritshi
In the boarding school Neko has few friends but she finds a companion in a fellow Nenets boy Parasi, who speaks Russian and translates for Neko. Together with Parasi she escapes and makes the long journey home across the icy tundra, navigating by the stars. Parasi is portrayed by Radion Anaguritshi, a Nenets school boy.
 
Teacher – Ljudmila Zannikova
“Lenin says: Study, study!”, says the teacher of the boarding school, whose duty it is to transform Neko from an illiterate Nenets girl to a Soviet citizen. The work and life in a small town in the middle of the fierce tundra is not easy for her. She is played by Russian pensioner Ljudmila Zannikova.