Atoms & Void, the Netherlands-based production and sales company run by Sergei Loznitsa and Maria Choustova, has closed a French sale on Loznitsa’s most recent feature documentary “The Invasion,” which premiered on Thursday as a Special Screening in Cannes. Potemkine Films has taken all rights for France, while the film’s French co-producer Arte France maintains its exclusive TV/VOD window.
“The Invasion” arrives 10 years after the release of Sergei Loznitsa’s epic “Maidan,” which chronicled the Ukrainian uprising.
In his latest feature documentary, Loznitsa returns to Ukraine to chronicle his country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Shot over a two-year period, the film portrays the life of the civilian population all over Ukraine – from Lviv and Odessa to Kyiv and Dnipro – and presents a statement of Ukrainian resilience in the face of a barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental...
“The Invasion” arrives 10 years after the release of Sergei Loznitsa’s epic “Maidan,” which chronicled the Ukrainian uprising.
In his latest feature documentary, Loznitsa returns to Ukraine to chronicle his country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Shot over a two-year period, the film portrays the life of the civilian population all over Ukraine – from Lviv and Odessa to Kyiv and Dnipro – and presents a statement of Ukrainian resilience in the face of a barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental...
- 5/19/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa’s filmography could be neatly divided into three genre buckets: feature films (the last two were Donbass and A Gentle Creature, both from the last decade), documentaries compiled entirely from archive sources (The Kiev Trial), and documentaries about current events, filmed by Loznitsa himself and small crews. The most well-known example from the last category would be Maidan (2014), a stirring, astringent, mosaic-like portrait of the demonstrations against Russian-supported president Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev’s main city square in 2013-14, which eventually devolved into violence.
With his latest, The Invasion, Loznitsa gives Maidan a cinematic sibling, a work that bears a strong family resemblance given its urgency and majestic, tragic sweep as it builds a portrait of a nation at war. But while the high-vérité lack of voiceover, identifying subtitles or editorializing follows the same modus operandi deployed with Maidan, there’s an even stronger sense here...
With his latest, The Invasion, Loznitsa gives Maidan a cinematic sibling, a work that bears a strong family resemblance given its urgency and majestic, tragic sweep as it builds a portrait of a nation at war. But while the high-vérité lack of voiceover, identifying subtitles or editorializing follows the same modus operandi deployed with Maidan, there’s an even stronger sense here...
- 5/18/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa is preparing to shoot his next fiction film Two Prosecutors in October. It is set during the Stalin terror and is based on a novel by little known Russian writer Georgy Demidov.
The film is being made as a coproduction between France’s Sbs, Loznitsa’s own The Netherlands’ Atoms & Void, and four other countries - Germany, Latvia, Romania and Lithuania. Sbs is also handling sales.
After a string of documentaries, including his new film The Invasion, a Special Screening here in Cannes, Two Prosecutors marks Loznita’s return to drama. Loznitsa himself is producing alongside his partner Maria Choustova.
The film is being made as a coproduction between France’s Sbs, Loznitsa’s own The Netherlands’ Atoms & Void, and four other countries - Germany, Latvia, Romania and Lithuania. Sbs is also handling sales.
After a string of documentaries, including his new film The Invasion, a Special Screening here in Cannes, Two Prosecutors marks Loznita’s return to drama. Loznitsa himself is producing alongside his partner Maria Choustova.
- 5/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
A Compassionate Spy (Steve James)
See an exclusive clip above.
The latest film from acclaimed documentarian Steve James, A Compassionate Spy, comes with a fascinating subject: the spy who leaked nuclear information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union, therefore ensuring that America could not establish a nuclear monopoly on the world. It’s easy to see why James would be drawn to the spy, Theodore “Ted” Hall, and his wife Joan as he has often been interested in using individuals as the framework to explore larger societal issues. Utilizing a hybrid of recreations, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, James crafts a portrait of a man, a relationship, and the sheer weight of the decision to betray your country to save the world.
A Compassionate Spy (Steve James)
See an exclusive clip above.
The latest film from acclaimed documentarian Steve James, A Compassionate Spy, comes with a fascinating subject: the spy who leaked nuclear information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union, therefore ensuring that America could not establish a nuclear monopoly on the world. It’s easy to see why James would be drawn to the spy, Theodore “Ted” Hall, and his wife Joan as he has often been interested in using individuals as the framework to explore larger societal issues. Utilizing a hybrid of recreations, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, James crafts a portrait of a man, a relationship, and the sheer weight of the decision to betray your country to save the world.
- 8/4/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Thai thriller is the feature debut of commercials director Surapong Ploensang.
Exclusive: Film Movement has acquired all North American rights to Thai thriller Cracked from South Korea’s Cj Major Entertainment.
The film will get a theatrical release in North America this year, followed by a roll out on home entertainment and digital platforms.
Cracked is the feature debut of award-winning commercials director Surapong Ploensang. Chayanit Chansangavej stars as a woman who inherits an art collection and hires a young artist (played by K-pop star Nichkhun Horvejkul) to repair the cracks that mysteriously appear in the paintings. The film...
Exclusive: Film Movement has acquired all North American rights to Thai thriller Cracked from South Korea’s Cj Major Entertainment.
The film will get a theatrical release in North America this year, followed by a roll out on home entertainment and digital platforms.
Cracked is the feature debut of award-winning commercials director Surapong Ploensang. Chayanit Chansangavej stars as a woman who inherits an art collection and hires a young artist (played by K-pop star Nichkhun Horvejkul) to repair the cracks that mysteriously appear in the paintings. The film...
- 5/20/2022
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Film producers are often used to facing challenging situations but for Denis Ivanov, he never could have anticipated the dramatic diversion his job would take when, on February 24th, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of his home country.
The Ukrainian producer-distributor, who has long been a regular fixture on the international festival circuit with credits including Oleg Sentsov’s Rhino and Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass, now volunteers—like many other creatives in the country—for the local territorial army. Ivanov is driving or delivering ammunition, raising money internationally, helping transport drones, whatever may be needed on any particular day to facilitate the locals in fight against the continued onslaught of Vladimir Putin’s army on the country.
Speaking via Zoom from his office in the country’s capital of Kyiv where, at the time of the interview, Russian troops had fully withdrawn to focus on their offensive in eastern Ukraine,...
The Ukrainian producer-distributor, who has long been a regular fixture on the international festival circuit with credits including Oleg Sentsov’s Rhino and Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass, now volunteers—like many other creatives in the country—for the local territorial army. Ivanov is driving or delivering ammunition, raising money internationally, helping transport drones, whatever may be needed on any particular day to facilitate the locals in fight against the continued onslaught of Vladimir Putin’s army on the country.
Speaking via Zoom from his office in the country’s capital of Kyiv where, at the time of the interview, Russian troops had fully withdrawn to focus on their offensive in eastern Ukraine,...
- 5/19/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Mila Aung-Thwin, a producer on 2022 Sundance Special Jury Award winner “Midwives,” will direct a feature documentary about Tiberiu Uşeriu (a.k.a. Romania’s Ice Man), an extreme ultramarathon champion who turned his life around after serving time in a German high-security prison for armed robbery, the filmmaker told Variety during Toronto’s Hot Docs festival.
Aung-Thwin, a cofounder of the acclaimed documentary production company EyeSteelFilm, is this year’s recipient of Hot Docs’ Don Haig Award, which is given to an outstanding independent Canadian producer with a film in the festival in recognition of their creative vision and entrepreneurship.
“Ultra” (working title) producers include Cristian Nicolescu, EyeSteelFilm’s Bob Moore, and Lithium Studios’ Mike MacMillan.
Canada’s Telefilm and Sodec have provided development financing, while the Romanian Film Institute has already put up production funding, Aung-Thwin said. Meetings with potential partners are already ramping up. Cinetic Media senior exec Jason Ishikawas is repping “Ultra.
Aung-Thwin, a cofounder of the acclaimed documentary production company EyeSteelFilm, is this year’s recipient of Hot Docs’ Don Haig Award, which is given to an outstanding independent Canadian producer with a film in the festival in recognition of their creative vision and entrepreneurship.
“Ultra” (working title) producers include Cristian Nicolescu, EyeSteelFilm’s Bob Moore, and Lithium Studios’ Mike MacMillan.
Canada’s Telefilm and Sodec have provided development financing, while the Romanian Film Institute has already put up production funding, Aung-Thwin said. Meetings with potential partners are already ramping up. Cinetic Media senior exec Jason Ishikawas is repping “Ultra.
- 5/8/2022
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
Valentyn Vasyanovych’s film to open on May 6.
Film Movement has acquired North American rights from New Europe Film Sales to Ukrainian filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych’s timely Venice 2021 selection Reflection.
The drama centres on a Ukrainian surgeon who tries to rebuild his life after he is released by Russian forces and is a chilling foreshadowing of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war that erupted in late February.
The story opens in 2014 as Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy is captured by the Russians after he enlists to fight against them in the contested southeastern Donbas region.
As a prisoner of war he witnesses horrifying scenes...
Film Movement has acquired North American rights from New Europe Film Sales to Ukrainian filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych’s timely Venice 2021 selection Reflection.
The drama centres on a Ukrainian surgeon who tries to rebuild his life after he is released by Russian forces and is a chilling foreshadowing of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war that erupted in late February.
The story opens in 2014 as Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy is captured by the Russians after he enlists to fight against them in the contested southeastern Donbas region.
As a prisoner of war he witnesses horrifying scenes...
- 4/14/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” (Paramount) came through and then some with a 71 million estimated opening weekend gross, overperforming even more than last week’s “Morbius” (Sony) disappointed.
“Sonic” benefits from being the first top-flight family theatrical release since “Sing 2” last Christmas. The February 21 release of Pixar’s “Turning Red” received much better reviews, but of course Disney made that a Disney+ exclusive outside of three limited runs.
The original “Sonic the Hedgehog” opened to 58 million on February 14, 2020 to become the last pre-covid theatrical debut over 50 million. The second installment of a franchise often exceeds the first, which suggests 71 million represents a shot at normalcy. The summer is top heavy with sequels from major franchises; similar performances could mean exceeding expectations.
This extends Paramount’s consistent run of opening above projections and by some distance, it’s the best. After a minimum 45-day window, it will feed Paramount+ and presumably increase its family appeal.
“Sonic” benefits from being the first top-flight family theatrical release since “Sing 2” last Christmas. The February 21 release of Pixar’s “Turning Red” received much better reviews, but of course Disney made that a Disney+ exclusive outside of three limited runs.
The original “Sonic the Hedgehog” opened to 58 million on February 14, 2020 to become the last pre-covid theatrical debut over 50 million. The second installment of a franchise often exceeds the first, which suggests 71 million represents a shot at normalcy. The summer is top heavy with sequels from major franchises; similar performances could mean exceeding expectations.
This extends Paramount’s consistent run of opening above projections and by some distance, it’s the best. After a minimum 45-day window, it will feed Paramount+ and presumably increase its family appeal.
- 4/10/2022
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass, the Ukrainian filmmaker’s movie that made the festival rounds in the now-seemingly ancient year of 2018, kicks off with two different vignettes. We watch an older woman getting rings put around her eyes in a makeup trailer — she’s part of a “cast” of “everyday people,” along with fake cops and corpses, that will help sell the aftermath of a nationalist “attack” in the name of pro-Russia TV propaganda. The year is 2014; the place is, per an intertitle, “Occupied Ukraine.” An assistant leads her and her...
- 4/10/2022
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
When I’m reviewing a movie, I try to go in cold. I want my criticism to come as organically as possible. I don’t want other people’s opinions (or even a plot synopsis or trailer) to color my perspective. This was not the correct move for “Donbass,” the latest drama from director Sergey Loznitsa.
The film takes place in 2014, at the dawn of pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine that has snowballed into the war we see dominating front pages today. It is an incredibly specific satire that, unless you are aware of the precise ideologies of Eastern Ukraine and their weak points, may not immediately register as a satire at all. After my first screening of “Donbass” (and a few minutes of confused silence), I had to contact a friend who is a scholar of Eurasian studies, do some of my own research, and then watch it again.
This...
The film takes place in 2014, at the dawn of pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine that has snowballed into the war we see dominating front pages today. It is an incredibly specific satire that, unless you are aware of the precise ideologies of Eastern Ukraine and their weak points, may not immediately register as a satire at all. After my first screening of “Donbass” (and a few minutes of confused silence), I had to contact a friend who is a scholar of Eurasian studies, do some of my own research, and then watch it again.
This...
- 4/8/2022
- by Lena Wilson
- The Wrap
Nobody who knows anything about war would claim there are good or bad conflicts. Still, the warfare seen in Sergey Loznitsa’s savage Ukraine-set satire “Donbass” manages to seem even more harrowing than the fictional fighting we are used to seeing on screen. That is not because the film is gruesome in its visuals. Instead, Loznitsa shows us something potentially more frightening than a bloody drag-out battle between two armies: A war where one side is barely recognizable from the other, the stakes are hard to discern, and because it is not quite clear what the fighting is for, it is difficult to imagine it ending.
Continue reading ‘Donbass’ Review: Sergei Loznitsa’s Bleak and Brutal Ukraine-Set War Comedy is Eerily Timed at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Donbass’ Review: Sergei Loznitsa’s Bleak and Brutal Ukraine-Set War Comedy is Eerily Timed at The Playlist.
- 3/30/2022
- by Chris Barsanti
- The Playlist
Exclusive: Influential Ukrainian film producer Denis Ivanov, whose credits include Sergey Loznitsa’s Donbass and Oleg Sentsov’s Rhino, says the lack of support from major film festivals for a boycott of Russian culture is tantamount to complicity in Vladimir Putin’s war.
Speaking to Deadline from Kyiv, where he is bravely sticking it out despite imminent danger, the producer tells us he won’t leave the city he loves and will resist the invasion in “all possible ways.” That’s despite his sister’s flat in the city being destroyed by a Russian missile last week.
Ivanov pulls no punches in expressing his frustration towards the response from the film community to date, which has seen all major festivals decline to participate in the boycott called for by the Ukrainian Film Academy. Simply put, he believes showcasing Russian culture at the moment is “a betrayal” of his country.
The...
Speaking to Deadline from Kyiv, where he is bravely sticking it out despite imminent danger, the producer tells us he won’t leave the city he loves and will resist the invasion in “all possible ways.” That’s despite his sister’s flat in the city being destroyed by a Russian missile last week.
Ivanov pulls no punches in expressing his frustration towards the response from the film community to date, which has seen all major festivals decline to participate in the boycott called for by the Ukrainian Film Academy. Simply put, he believes showcasing Russian culture at the moment is “a betrayal” of his country.
The...
- 3/25/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The director of Donbass and In the Fog resigned from the European academy and got booted off his country’s awards body. He explains why we must listen to other voices in Russia and Ukraine as the third world war has already started
On 27 February, three days after Russian tanks rolled into his homeland, the Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa resigned from the European Film Academy. Loznitsa, an ebulliently professorial figure who moved with his family to Berlin in 2001, was furious that the Efa had issued a statement of solidarity with Ukraine that he saw as too “neutral, toothless and conformist in relation to Russian aggression”.
Then, on 19 March, Loznitsa announced he had been expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy (UFA) for being a “cosmopolite”. He immediately understood the resonance of its slur. In an open letter published in Screen Daily, he wrote: “In the era of late Stalinism, this word...
On 27 February, three days after Russian tanks rolled into his homeland, the Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa resigned from the European Film Academy. Loznitsa, an ebulliently professorial figure who moved with his family to Berlin in 2001, was furious that the Efa had issued a statement of solidarity with Ukraine that he saw as too “neutral, toothless and conformist in relation to Russian aggression”.
Then, on 19 March, Loznitsa announced he had been expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy (UFA) for being a “cosmopolite”. He immediately understood the resonance of its slur. In an open letter published in Screen Daily, he wrote: “In the era of late Stalinism, this word...
- 3/24/2022
- by Graham Fuller
- The Guardian - Film News
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)The Cannes Film Festival has announced that this year's edition will celebrate the 40-year career of Tom Cruise (whose Top Gun: Maverick is premiering at the festival) with a full career retrospective. Ahead of the reveal for this year's lineup on April 14, Cannes has also confirmed that one of the titles set to premiere will be George Miller's Three Thousand Years of Longing, his first film since 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. Described by Miller as being "anti-Mad Max," Three Thousand Years of Longing is a fantasy romance drama starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. New York City's iconic video store, Kim's Video and Music, will be reopening this month inside the new Alamo Drafthouse location on Liberty Street. Recommended VIEWINGA24 has released a trailer for Alex Garland's Men,...
- 3/23/2022
- MUBI
"What's happening here?" Film Movement has revealed a new US trailer for a Russian-Ukranian film called Donbass, made by the filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa. This originally premiered in 2018 at the Cannes Film Festival, but is now being given a re-release due to the war in Ukraine and Russia's attack on this innocent country. Loznitsa is a Ukrainian filmmaker, but has been caught up in a bit of controversy recently because he has made many of his movies in Russia. Though many of them are criticizing Russia and the politics of the Putin regime, the Ukrainian Film Academy kicked him out anyway. In this black comedy set in eastern Ukraine, society begins to degrade as the effects of propaganda and manipulation begin to surface in this post-truth era. Loznitsa's Donbass film is about the Donbass region in Ukraine that was invaded and taken over back in another war in 2014. It's getting a...
- 3/23/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Ukraine filmmaker and Cannes winner Sergei Loznitsa made headlines recently for writing an open letter condemning the European Film Academy’s initially lax response to the Ukraine war, and promptly dropped out of the organization. Later, the Academy announced it would exclude Russian films from consideration for its 2022 awards. He was later expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy, with its leadership citing that “we have tirelessly called on the global film community to boycott Russian cinema. But Sergei Loznitsa publicly opposes this, thus denying the Russians’ collective responsibility for the war their country unleashed in Ukraine.”
Now, even as he stands in support of dissident Russian filmmakers, the director of films including 2012 Palme d’Or nominee “In the Fog” is getting a reconsideration in the West. His pitch-black 2018 satire “Donbass” won the Best Director in the Un Certain Regard category that year in Cannes, but hasn’t seen a U.
Now, even as he stands in support of dissident Russian filmmakers, the director of films including 2012 Palme d’Or nominee “In the Fog” is getting a reconsideration in the West. His pitch-black 2018 satire “Donbass” won the Best Director in the Un Certain Regard category that year in Cannes, but hasn’t seen a U.
- 3/23/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Independent distributor Film Movement has picked up all North American rights to award-winning folk horror film “Seire.” The Korean chiller will be released theatrically in 2022, followed by launches on home entertainment and digital platforms.
The film takes as its central premise the Korean superstition that nobody in the family of a baby less than three weeks old – the ‘seire’ period – should attend a wake. And that failure to take precautions risks misfortune.
The story, penned by writer and first-time feature director Park Kang, sees the father of a newborn attend the funeral of an ex-girlfriend. His encounter with her twin sister is followed by a series of unexplained and discomforting episodes.
Park previously dipped his toe in the horror genre with short film “Deal” in which a man tries to trade away his nightmares with someone reputed to be a buyer.
The cast of “Seire” is headed by Seo Hyun-woo...
The film takes as its central premise the Korean superstition that nobody in the family of a baby less than three weeks old – the ‘seire’ period – should attend a wake. And that failure to take precautions risks misfortune.
The story, penned by writer and first-time feature director Park Kang, sees the father of a newborn attend the funeral of an ex-girlfriend. His encounter with her twin sister is followed by a series of unexplained and discomforting episodes.
Park previously dipped his toe in the horror genre with short film “Deal” in which a man tries to trade away his nightmares with someone reputed to be a buyer.
The cast of “Seire” is headed by Seo Hyun-woo...
- 3/22/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Loznitsa announced on Saturday (March 19) that he’d been kicked out of the organisation.
The decision to expel director Sergei Loznitsa from the Ukrainian Film Academy “was directly related to the narratives the director tells about Ukraine”, according to Anna Machukh, executive director of the Academy and the Odesa International Film Festival.
Loznitsa announced on Saturday (March 19) that he’d been kicked out of the organisation, in part, for expressing support for dissident Russian filmmakers.
Explaining the expulsion, Machukh said: “Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have tirelessly called on the global film community to boycott Russian cinema.
The decision to expel director Sergei Loznitsa from the Ukrainian Film Academy “was directly related to the narratives the director tells about Ukraine”, according to Anna Machukh, executive director of the Academy and the Odesa International Film Festival.
Loznitsa announced on Saturday (March 19) that he’d been kicked out of the organisation, in part, for expressing support for dissident Russian filmmakers.
Explaining the expulsion, Machukh said: “Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have tirelessly called on the global film community to boycott Russian cinema.
- 3/21/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Sergei Loznitsa, the Ukrainian director who resigned from the European Film Academy over its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy for expressing his support for Russian filmmakers. In a statement released on Saturday, March 19, Loznitsa wrote that he had been expelled for being, in the Academy’s words, “a cosmopolite,” accused of being insufficiently loyal to his home country.
Loznitsa, best known for directing the films “Donbass” and “A Gentle Creature,” originally made waves for slamming the European Film Academy’s tepid response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The Academy had issued a bland statement offering its support to Ukrainians without denouncing Russia.
“What a shameful text has been generated by the European Film Academy,” Loznitsa wrote in response. “You state in your address that there are 61 Ukrainian members among your ranks. Well, as of today, there are only 60 of them.
Loznitsa, best known for directing the films “Donbass” and “A Gentle Creature,” originally made waves for slamming the European Film Academy’s tepid response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The Academy had issued a bland statement offering its support to Ukrainians without denouncing Russia.
“What a shameful text has been generated by the European Film Academy,” Loznitsa wrote in response. “You state in your address that there are 61 Ukrainian members among your ranks. Well, as of today, there are only 60 of them.
- 3/19/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Ukrainian producer Julia Sinkevych, named main jury president at French TV festival Series Mania, is still hoping to come to Lille this week despite the ongoing war.
“Last night, there was bombing not far from Lviv, so you never know. [Producer] Dariusz Jabłoński and the Polish Film Academy are helping out Ukrainian filmmakers and they will pick me up when I am in Poland,” she tells Variety during a conversation interrupted by a siren.
“Usually, it means you have to hide. But I am so tired of it – it happens so often. So sometimes, I don’t.”
In the worst-case scenario, she will be watching competition titles online from a shelter, with French writer and director Marc Dugain appointed as vice-president. Sinkevych admits she is “scared and frightened” to leave Ukraine as she might not be able to return to her family, but is adamant about bringing more attention to what is happening in her country.
“Last night, there was bombing not far from Lviv, so you never know. [Producer] Dariusz Jabłoński and the Polish Film Academy are helping out Ukrainian filmmakers and they will pick me up when I am in Poland,” she tells Variety during a conversation interrupted by a siren.
“Usually, it means you have to hide. But I am so tired of it – it happens so often. So sometimes, I don’t.”
In the worst-case scenario, she will be watching competition titles online from a shelter, with French writer and director Marc Dugain appointed as vice-president. Sinkevych admits she is “scared and frightened” to leave Ukraine as she might not be able to return to her family, but is adamant about bringing more attention to what is happening in her country.
- 3/17/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Film Movement has acquired all North American rights to two previous Ukrainian Oscar entries “Bad Roads” and “Donbass,” as well as the Sundance award-winning documentary “The Earth Is Blue as an Orange.”
“Bad Roads,” which was Ukraine’s Oscar candidate last fall, marks the feature debut of playwright-turned-filmmaker, Natalya Vorozhbit. The politically minded omnibus film, which premiered at Venice in 2020, is adapted from Vorozhbit’s play and unfolds in the recently invaded Eastern region of Donbass.
“Bad Roads” features four stories shedding light on life in the front-line war zone of Donbass: one man alleging to be a schoolmaster is accosted by the military at a checkpoint, two teenagers wait for their soldier boyfriends in a dilapidated town square; a journalist is held captive and gets brutally assaulted; and a young woman apologizes to an elderly couple for running over their chickens.
Variety’s review said the film “gains extra...
“Bad Roads,” which was Ukraine’s Oscar candidate last fall, marks the feature debut of playwright-turned-filmmaker, Natalya Vorozhbit. The politically minded omnibus film, which premiered at Venice in 2020, is adapted from Vorozhbit’s play and unfolds in the recently invaded Eastern region of Donbass.
“Bad Roads” features four stories shedding light on life in the front-line war zone of Donbass: one man alleging to be a schoolmaster is accosted by the military at a checkpoint, two teenagers wait for their soldier boyfriends in a dilapidated town square; a journalist is held captive and gets brutally assaulted; and a young woman apologizes to an elderly couple for running over their chickens.
Variety’s review said the film “gains extra...
- 3/8/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The embattled nation’s cinema is rich and distinctive, from 1929’s milestone Man With a Movie Camera to Sergei Loznitsa’s pitch-black comedy Donbass
Ukraine’s national cinema is a storied and distinctive one, though not one that has traditionally received the exposure it deserves. That’s been shifting of late, with Ukrainian film-makers such as Sergei Loznitsa and Valentyn Vasyanovych finding a following on the international film festival circuit. On the streaming side of things, availability is pretty patchy even when it comes to some major titles – though a couple of useful online initiatives are seeking to put that right.
We’ll begin with probably the most famous vision of Ukraine on screen: Dziga Vertov’s landmark 1929 documentary Man With a Movie Camera (BFI Player), which landed in the top 10 of Sight and Sound magazine’s all-time greatest films poll a decade ago. Nearly a century after it was made,...
Ukraine’s national cinema is a storied and distinctive one, though not one that has traditionally received the exposure it deserves. That’s been shifting of late, with Ukrainian film-makers such as Sergei Loznitsa and Valentyn Vasyanovych finding a following on the international film festival circuit. On the streaming side of things, availability is pretty patchy even when it comes to some major titles – though a couple of useful online initiatives are seeking to put that right.
We’ll begin with probably the most famous vision of Ukraine on screen: Dziga Vertov’s landmark 1929 documentary Man With a Movie Camera (BFI Player), which landed in the top 10 of Sight and Sound magazine’s all-time greatest films poll a decade ago. Nearly a century after it was made,...
- 3/5/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Ivanov’s credits include Oleg Sentsov’s ‘Rhino’ and Sergio Loznitsa’s ’Donbass’.
Ukrainian producer Denis Ivanov, whose credits include Oleg Sentsov’s Rhino and Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass, has released an open letter calling on professionals working in the film and cultural sectors to wake up to the “genocide of Ukrainians” as Russia invades his country.
Ivanov is currently signed up as a volunteer for the local territorial army near where he lives outside Kyiv, close to the route through which Russia’s 40-kilometre convoy will pass if it proceeds to the Ukrainian capital.
He said that the time...
Ukrainian producer Denis Ivanov, whose credits include Oleg Sentsov’s Rhino and Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass, has released an open letter calling on professionals working in the film and cultural sectors to wake up to the “genocide of Ukrainians” as Russia invades his country.
Ivanov is currently signed up as a volunteer for the local territorial army near where he lives outside Kyiv, close to the route through which Russia’s 40-kilometre convoy will pass if it proceeds to the Ukrainian capital.
He said that the time...
- 3/3/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Denis Ivanov, the Ukrainian producer of critically acclaimed films including Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi’s ‘The Tribe’, Sergey Loznitsas ‘Donbass’ and Oleh Sentsovs ‘Rhino’, has penned an impassioned letter against Russias war in Ukraine, describing it as a ‘genocide against Ukrainians’ and accusing the Russian military of war crimes. In the letter, Ivanov gave his full-throated support to […]...
- 3/3/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Denis Ivanov, the Ukrainian producer of critically acclaimed films including Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s “The Tribe,” Sergey Loznitsa’s “Donbass” and Oleh Sentsov’s “Rhino,” has penned an impassioned letter against Russia’s war in Ukraine, describing it as a “genocide against Ukrainians” and accusing the Russian military of war crimes.
In the letter, Ivanov gave his full-throated support to a boycott on Russian films, demanding “no more ‘business as usual’ with Putin’s Russia.”
“I think some festival selectors, film professionals and cultural managers just do not get what is happening in Ukraine,” he wrote, in light of an ongoing campaign by the Russian military that has escalated in recent days. “This war of aggression by the Russians has turned into a war on independence and a war for values and rights. It is, first of all, the genocide of Ukrainians.
“In these circumstances, I sincerely wonder about the position,...
In the letter, Ivanov gave his full-throated support to a boycott on Russian films, demanding “no more ‘business as usual’ with Putin’s Russia.”
“I think some festival selectors, film professionals and cultural managers just do not get what is happening in Ukraine,” he wrote, in light of an ongoing campaign by the Russian military that has escalated in recent days. “This war of aggression by the Russians has turned into a war on independence and a war for values and rights. It is, first of all, the genocide of Ukrainians.
“In these circumstances, I sincerely wonder about the position,...
- 3/3/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival has taken a position on the war in Ukraine, and will bar Russian delegations at its 75th edition this May.
“As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory,” reads a statement released on Tuesday. “However modest as it is, we join our voices with those who oppose this unacceptable situation and denounce the attitude of Russia and its leaders.
“During this winter of 2022, the Festival de Cannes has entered its preparation phase. Unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government.
“As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory,” reads a statement released on Tuesday. “However modest as it is, we join our voices with those who oppose this unacceptable situation and denounce the attitude of Russia and its leaders.
“During this winter of 2022, the Festival de Cannes has entered its preparation phase. Unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government.
- 3/1/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Sergei Loznitsa, the award-winning Ukrainian filmmaker of “Donbass” and “Babi Yar Context,” has spoken against the boycott of Russian films.
Loznitsa said today in a letter received by Variety that “many friends and colleagues, Russian filmmakers, have taken stand against this insane war.”
“When I hear today these calls to ban Russian films, I think of these (filmmakers) who are good people. They are victims as we are of this agression,” added the filmmaker, who previously expressed his dissatisfaction with the European Film Academy over a comment which he considered too mild about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Loznitsa subsequently wrote a scathing open letter to the Efa and gave up his membership on Monday.
On Tuesday, the board of the Efa decided to exclude Russia from the European Film Awards. But Loznitsa says he never intended to provoke this boycott.
“On February 2022, as the Russian soldiers had just started invading Ukraine,...
Loznitsa said today in a letter received by Variety that “many friends and colleagues, Russian filmmakers, have taken stand against this insane war.”
“When I hear today these calls to ban Russian films, I think of these (filmmakers) who are good people. They are victims as we are of this agression,” added the filmmaker, who previously expressed his dissatisfaction with the European Film Academy over a comment which he considered too mild about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Loznitsa subsequently wrote a scathing open letter to the Efa and gave up his membership on Monday.
On Tuesday, the board of the Efa decided to exclude Russia from the European Film Awards. But Loznitsa says he never intended to provoke this boycott.
“On February 2022, as the Russian soldiers had just started invading Ukraine,...
- 3/1/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The European Film Academy (Efa) has issued an unequivocal condemnation of President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and excluded Russia from the European Film Awards.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Efa said: “The Academy strongly condemns the war started by Russia – Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory must be respected. Putin’s actions are atrocious and totally unacceptable, and we strongly condemn them.”
“What concerns us most is the fate of the Ukrainians, and our hearts are with the Ukrainian filmmaking community. We are fully aware that several of our members are fighting with arms against the aggressor. The Academy will therefore exclude Russian films from this year’s European Film Awards and we lend our support to each element of the boycott,” the Efa said.
This is the second statement on the matter from the Academy. On Feb. 24, hours after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Efa had issued a...
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Efa said: “The Academy strongly condemns the war started by Russia – Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory must be respected. Putin’s actions are atrocious and totally unacceptable, and we strongly condemn them.”
“What concerns us most is the fate of the Ukrainians, and our hearts are with the Ukrainian filmmaking community. We are fully aware that several of our members are fighting with arms against the aggressor. The Academy will therefore exclude Russian films from this year’s European Film Awards and we lend our support to each element of the boycott,” the Efa said.
This is the second statement on the matter from the Academy. On Feb. 24, hours after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Efa had issued a...
- 3/1/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes regular expresses anger at the pan-European body’s measured response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa is cancelling his membership of the European Film Academy (Efa) in frustration at the organisation’s response to Russia’s invasion of his native Ukraine.
In an open letter, Loznitsa slammed an Efa statement released on Saturday (February 26) expressing “Solidarity with Ukraine”, criticising its language with regards to the ongoing invasion.
Loznitsa has requested Screen International publish his open letter in full:
What a shameful text has been generated by the European Film Academy! “The invasion in Ukraine is heavily worrying us”.
When,...
Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa is cancelling his membership of the European Film Academy (Efa) in frustration at the organisation’s response to Russia’s invasion of his native Ukraine.
In an open letter, Loznitsa slammed an Efa statement released on Saturday (February 26) expressing “Solidarity with Ukraine”, criticising its language with regards to the ongoing invasion.
Loznitsa has requested Screen International publish his open letter in full:
What a shameful text has been generated by the European Film Academy! “The invasion in Ukraine is heavily worrying us”.
When,...
- 2/28/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
While much of the world was glued to CNN this week, trying to parse the terrifying consequences of a geopolitical situation that simmered for years, I turned to the movies.
No amount of breaking news can possibly convey the impact of Russian warmongering creeping into Ukrainian society, but the eerie and often heartbreaking ramifications come to life in Sergei Loznitsa’s satiric anthology “Donbass.” Valentyn Vasyanovych’s post-apocalyptic “Atlantis” is suddenly prescient for the way it conveys a bleak vision of Eastern Ukraine circa 2025, “one year after the war.” In Natalyz Vorozhbit’s “Bad Roads,” Donbas is explored as a series of tense exchanges between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainians at the mercy of propagandistic outbursts.
No matter how much Western media depicts it as coming out of nowhere, these stories track the gradual encroachment of Russian ideology that rooted across Ukraine in the buildup to Putin’s harrowing assault. The...
No amount of breaking news can possibly convey the impact of Russian warmongering creeping into Ukrainian society, but the eerie and often heartbreaking ramifications come to life in Sergei Loznitsa’s satiric anthology “Donbass.” Valentyn Vasyanovych’s post-apocalyptic “Atlantis” is suddenly prescient for the way it conveys a bleak vision of Eastern Ukraine circa 2025, “one year after the war.” In Natalyz Vorozhbit’s “Bad Roads,” Donbas is explored as a series of tense exchanges between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainians at the mercy of propagandistic outbursts.
No matter how much Western media depicts it as coming out of nowhere, these stories track the gradual encroachment of Russian ideology that rooted across Ukraine in the buildup to Putin’s harrowing assault. The...
- 2/26/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Natalya Vorozhbit had four days left in the production of her sophomore film “Demons” when the bombs arrived.
The playwright-turned-filmmaker, whose debut “Bad Roads” was the Ukrainian Oscar submission last fall, was shooting “Demons” in the city of Myrhorod on Wednesday when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As airstrikes, tanks, and troops arrived across the country, the Myrhorod Air Base was among the targets. By then, Vorozhbit’s cast and crew retreated. On Thursday, Vorozhbit found herself in a makeshift bomb shelter with relatives on the outskirts of Kyiv, uncertain about the future of her project but committed to finishing it.
“A lot of people are leaving, but it’s my choice to stay,” she said in an interview through a translator over Zoom. “It’s very important for me to be here. I’m inspired and stimulated by being in Ukraine. I will only leave if Russia...
The playwright-turned-filmmaker, whose debut “Bad Roads” was the Ukrainian Oscar submission last fall, was shooting “Demons” in the city of Myrhorod on Wednesday when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As airstrikes, tanks, and troops arrived across the country, the Myrhorod Air Base was among the targets. By then, Vorozhbit’s cast and crew retreated. On Thursday, Vorozhbit found herself in a makeshift bomb shelter with relatives on the outskirts of Kyiv, uncertain about the future of her project but committed to finishing it.
“A lot of people are leaving, but it’s my choice to stay,” she said in an interview through a translator over Zoom. “It’s very important for me to be here. I’m inspired and stimulated by being in Ukraine. I will only leave if Russia...
- 2/25/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Louis Hothothot’s feature debut “Four Journeys” will open the 34th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), which also revealed the lineup of the International Competition program, as well as other sections.
“Four Journeys” is a personal film about the destructive influence on a Chinese family of the one-child policy. Hothothot was born as an “illegal” second child, and the authorities punished his parents harshly. The director forces his parents to confront their traumatic past in the film.
A total of 264 titles from more than 80 countries play in the festival, which runs from Nov. 17-28. Artistic director Orwa Nyrabia said the films show us “how artistic freedom, courage and engagement with the world come in many different languages, styles, and viewpoints.” He added: “The documentary field is being confirmed as a future-proof art form that is unapologetically open, diverse and continuously developing.”
The International Competition lineup includes...
“Four Journeys” is a personal film about the destructive influence on a Chinese family of the one-child policy. Hothothot was born as an “illegal” second child, and the authorities punished his parents harshly. The director forces his parents to confront their traumatic past in the film.
A total of 264 titles from more than 80 countries play in the festival, which runs from Nov. 17-28. Artistic director Orwa Nyrabia said the films show us “how artistic freedom, courage and engagement with the world come in many different languages, styles, and viewpoints.” He added: “The documentary field is being confirmed as a future-proof art form that is unapologetically open, diverse and continuously developing.”
The International Competition lineup includes...
- 11/1/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Gone to Graveyards: Bureau Mines the Surreal Tragedy of Ongoing Ukrainian Conflict
Ukrainian auteur Sergei Loznitsa has, heretofore, presented the most comprehensive cinematic examinations of the Ukrainian revolution, which grew out of the 2013/2014 Euromaidan protests. His films contend with the continually rippling aftermath from these protests, both in the immediacy of his 2014 documentary Maidan and the masterful narrative feature Donbass (2018). French journalist Loup Bureau joins the conversation with his debut documentary Trenches, which follows a handful of frontline Ukrainian soldiers responsible for the Sisyphean feat of reconstructing the eponymous dugouts as the violent conflict with Russian-backed separatists rages on.…...
Ukrainian auteur Sergei Loznitsa has, heretofore, presented the most comprehensive cinematic examinations of the Ukrainian revolution, which grew out of the 2013/2014 Euromaidan protests. His films contend with the continually rippling aftermath from these protests, both in the immediacy of his 2014 documentary Maidan and the masterful narrative feature Donbass (2018). French journalist Loup Bureau joins the conversation with his debut documentary Trenches, which follows a handful of frontline Ukrainian soldiers responsible for the Sisyphean feat of reconstructing the eponymous dugouts as the violent conflict with Russian-backed separatists rages on.…...
- 9/3/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Iryna Tsilyk sensitively captures a family caught up in the conflict with Russia who are trying to make a film of their own
This sensitive and astute Sundance-winning documentary, in which Kyiv-based director and poet Iryna Tsilyk haunts the back alleys of the Russo-Ukrainian war, is the antidote to the warped propaganda-fest the conflict was depicted as in the 2018 film Donbass. It layers fact and fiction as delicately as an onion as it focuses on the Trofymchuk-Gladky family, who are attempting to shoot piecemeal their own fictional work, called 2014, based on their wartime experiences. But, here, artifice and cinema work entirely in the service of good. They are a source of self-expression and spiritual nourishment for Ukrainians beaten down by close to a decade of fighting.
Tsilyk mentored budding film-maker Myroslava Trofymchuk at a workshop, and it is the teenager we see here calling the shots for her family as...
This sensitive and astute Sundance-winning documentary, in which Kyiv-based director and poet Iryna Tsilyk haunts the back alleys of the Russo-Ukrainian war, is the antidote to the warped propaganda-fest the conflict was depicted as in the 2018 film Donbass. It layers fact and fiction as delicately as an onion as it focuses on the Trofymchuk-Gladky family, who are attempting to shoot piecemeal their own fictional work, called 2014, based on their wartime experiences. But, here, artifice and cinema work entirely in the service of good. They are a source of self-expression and spiritual nourishment for Ukrainians beaten down by close to a decade of fighting.
Tsilyk mentored budding film-maker Myroslava Trofymchuk at a workshop, and it is the teenager we see here calling the shots for her family as...
- 7/12/2021
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Sergei Loznitsa's State Funeral is exclusively showing in many countries starting May 21, 2021 in Mubi's Luminaries series.When the Euromaidan Revolution of 2014 broke out in Kiev, Ukraine, Sergei Loznitsa was its most appropriate chronicler. For in the fifteen years leading up to the demonstrations that overthrew the Putin-friendly government of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian director had already managed to examine many moments of conflict and hardship in the history of Soviet and post-Soviet states. Be it through fiction, observational documentary, or archival collage, his work is mostly concerned with the way individuals are usurped by the masses, and the way these collective bodies are being framed and reframed throughout history. So when history was being written in real time on the central square of Kiev, Loznitsa was there to record it and to reinforce his cinematic thesis that captured events will always resist a linear narrative.Loznitsa avoids an overtly explicit approach to filmmaking.
- 5/18/2021
- MUBI
"He wants to know what's happening here." Film Movement has released this US trailer for Donbass, a Ukrainian drama that premiered two years ago at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. It only got a US release in "virtual cinemas" this fall. In the Donbass, a region of Eastern Ukraine, society begins to degrade as the effects of propaganda and manipulation take effect amidst such turbulent times. Society begins to degrade in this post-truth era. Donbass, ultimately, is not a tale of one region, one country or one political system. It is about a world lost in post-truth and fake identities. It is about each and every one of us. The film won the Best Director prize in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes. It's a grotesque, brutal faux-documentary style film about both sides and the horrors of war. Featuring an authentic cast. Looks like an intense watch. Here's the official...
- 12/29/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Global streamer Mubi has taken U.S. and UK rights to Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary State Funeral, which explores the impact of the death of Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin in 1953.
The doc premiered at Venice this year and also played Toronto. Mubi will give the film a U.S. theatrical run, starting exclusively at New York’s Lincoln Center from May 1, before streaming it in both the U.S. and UK from May 24.
Comprised of rarely-seen archive footage, the film depicts how the Soviet Union was rocked by the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953. It chronicles how the broadcasters and newspapers revealed the death, the endless procession of mourners in Moscow’s Red Square, the hasty appointment of Malenkov as successor, and the ceremonial burial attended by numerous Soviet leaders.
Ukrainian filmmaker Loznitsa’s credits include the drama Donbass, which was a critical hit at Cannes in 2018. His...
The doc premiered at Venice this year and also played Toronto. Mubi will give the film a U.S. theatrical run, starting exclusively at New York’s Lincoln Center from May 1, before streaming it in both the U.S. and UK from May 24.
Comprised of rarely-seen archive footage, the film depicts how the Soviet Union was rocked by the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953. It chronicles how the broadcasters and newspapers revealed the death, the endless procession of mourners in Moscow’s Red Square, the hasty appointment of Malenkov as successor, and the ceremonial burial attended by numerous Soviet leaders.
Ukrainian filmmaker Loznitsa’s credits include the drama Donbass, which was a critical hit at Cannes in 2018. His...
- 12/19/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Sergei Loznitsa’s multi-faceted filmmaking approach, these days focused on documentary, blend archival material and sometimes re-enactments with actors, resulting in unique insights and subtle visual commentary on the Soviet and ex-Soviet sphere. His latest nonfiction film, “State Funeral,” constructed from once-banned footage of the epic events surrounding Joseph Stalin’s death and funeral in 1953, is screening at Marrakech Film Festival following its debut in Venice.
In researching the project, the Ukrainian filmmaker and former mathematician employed his trademark precision and methodology in mining through 35 hours of material at the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive in Krasnogorsk.
“I constructed the film based on the actual order of the events during the period from March 6 till March 9,” says Loznitsa. “We begin with the scene when the coffin with Stalin’s body is placed in the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions and end with the moment when...
In researching the project, the Ukrainian filmmaker and former mathematician employed his trademark precision and methodology in mining through 35 hours of material at the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive in Krasnogorsk.
“I constructed the film based on the actual order of the events during the period from March 6 till March 9,” says Loznitsa. “We begin with the scene when the coffin with Stalin’s body is placed in the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions and end with the moment when...
- 12/1/2019
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
The Ukrainian director was talking at the goEast Festival in Germany.
Prolific Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has revealed details of his new documentary film State Funeral, about the “grandiose, terrifying and grotesque” spectacle of the funeral of Joseph Stalin.
It will be the latest of Loznitsa’s montage films based on archive footage following Blockade, Revue, The Event and The Trial. He is readying it for completion later this year.
“I have been working with footage which was shot between March 5-8, 1953 for a film called The Great Farewell by directors including Sergei Gerasimov and Ilya Kopalin,” Loznitsa explained. “But...
Prolific Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has revealed details of his new documentary film State Funeral, about the “grandiose, terrifying and grotesque” spectacle of the funeral of Joseph Stalin.
It will be the latest of Loznitsa’s montage films based on archive footage following Blockade, Revue, The Event and The Trial. He is readying it for completion later this year.
“I have been working with footage which was shot between March 5-8, 1953 for a film called The Great Farewell by directors including Sergei Gerasimov and Ilya Kopalin,” Loznitsa explained. “But...
- 4/18/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based Slot Machine is re-teaming with Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, whose film “Donbass” won Cannes’s Un Certain Regard directing prize, on his long-gestating project “Babi Yar,” which will mark his most ambitious film to date.
The film will chronicle the September 1941 massacre of 30,000 Jews by Nazi troops over a three-day period. Marianne Slot, the founder of Slot Machine, said “Babi Yar” would be a testimonial film without protagonist and a politically engaged movie that resonates with contemporary issues, such as homophobia and anti-semitism.
“Babi Yar” will be a powerful and timely film, and it will also be artistically ambitious,” said Slot, who is working alongside veteran producer Carine Leblanc at Slot Machine.
“Babi Yar” is being set up as a co-production between France, Ukraine and Romania. It will mark the fifth narrative feature from Loznitsa, who not only has an impressive track record as a documentarian, but also his...
The film will chronicle the September 1941 massacre of 30,000 Jews by Nazi troops over a three-day period. Marianne Slot, the founder of Slot Machine, said “Babi Yar” would be a testimonial film without protagonist and a politically engaged movie that resonates with contemporary issues, such as homophobia and anti-semitism.
“Babi Yar” will be a powerful and timely film, and it will also be artistically ambitious,” said Slot, who is working alongside veteran producer Carine Leblanc at Slot Machine.
“Babi Yar” is being set up as a co-production between France, Ukraine and Romania. It will mark the fifth narrative feature from Loznitsa, who not only has an impressive track record as a documentarian, but also his...
- 2/11/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Even in the streaming age, some movies travel slowly. For every “Bird Box,” which debuted on Netflix a month after its world premiere at AFI Fest, there are dozens of films like “Donbass,” “Ayka,” and “Asako I & II,” all of which just screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival nearly a year after first debuting elsewhere and have yet to receive stateside distribution. That such festival-circuit deep cuts would receive pride of place in the California desert may come as a surprise to anyone with a passing knowledge of the awards-season fest, which is best known for toasting soon-to-be Oscar nominees and winners; this year’s honorees included Glenn Close, Rami Malek, and Timothée Chalamet.
For world cinema–inclined cinephiles, however, Palm Springs’ status as an Academy-adjacent affair has a worthwhile side benefit: 43 of the 87 official submissions for the Foreign Language prize made their way into the lineup,...
For world cinema–inclined cinephiles, however, Palm Springs’ status as an Academy-adjacent affair has a worthwhile side benefit: 43 of the 87 official submissions for the Foreign Language prize made their way into the lineup,...
- 1/15/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Norman NormanThe First Look Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image, located in the New York borough of Queens, has historically showcased a brave program that puts attention primarily on experimental, outsider and newcomer art. For example, last year it showed Let the Summer Never Come Again, a 202-minute long Georgian film shot on a first generation cellphone camera, and Colo, Teresa Villaverde’s latest exploration on the Portuguese economic and moral crisis, alongside Prototype, Blake William’s truly experimental 3D feature debut. Now in its 8th edition, First Look has managed to double its bet in terms of discovering new alleyways in which to find where the cinema of the future might come from.This is clear from the decisions made by Eric Hynes, MoMI curator, and David Schwartz, the festival founder, as the only films that might come from established filmmakers are the ones that are on...
- 1/11/2019
- MUBI
Year-end buzz is often hijacked by noisy awards campaigns, but sometimes, it syncs up with critical consensus. That seems to be the case with “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón’s nuanced ode to the domestic worker in his Mexican household in the 1970s. After winning multiple prizes from critics groups and topping numerous top 10 lists, “Roma” has received the most definitive endorsement from critics yet, by topping IndieWire’s year-end critics poll in the Best Film, Best Director, Best Foreign Film, and Best Cinematography categories.
The thirteenth edition of the survey presents an exhaustive overview of critical favorites, with a record-high of 232 critics voting from 32 countries, making it the largest survey of its kind. The outcome illustrates the sheer range of films celebrated by critics in 2018. While Cuarón dominated the film and director categories, Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” received significant support that landed it in the second-place slot, while Lee Chang-dong...
The thirteenth edition of the survey presents an exhaustive overview of critical favorites, with a record-high of 232 critics voting from 32 countries, making it the largest survey of its kind. The outcome illustrates the sheer range of films celebrated by critics in 2018. While Cuarón dominated the film and director categories, Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” received significant support that landed it in the second-place slot, while Lee Chang-dong...
- 12/17/2018
- by Christian Blauvelt and Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Palm Springs International Film Festival has announced its 2019 lineup, and it’s prodigious: 223 films from 78 countries, four of them world premieres. Though well known for celebrating future Oscar nominees (and winners) each year, the festival also boasts a deceptively robust world-cinema slate; among the upcoming offerings are Jia Zhangke’s “Ash Is Purest White,” Sergey Loznitsa’s “Donbass,” Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage,” and Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Asako I & II,” to name just a few.
A number of post-screening Q&As will also be held, including with “Black Klansman” author Ron Stallworth and “Support the Girls” star Regina Hall, in addition to a new section celebrating the best films to screen at Psiff throughout its first three decades.
World premieres:
Buck Run (USA), Director Nick Frangione
Carlos Almaraz Playing With Fire (USA), Directors Elsa Flores Almaraz, Richard Montoya (Schlesinger Documentary Competition)
The Last Color...
A number of post-screening Q&As will also be held, including with “Black Klansman” author Ron Stallworth and “Support the Girls” star Regina Hall, in addition to a new section celebrating the best films to screen at Psiff throughout its first three decades.
World premieres:
Buck Run (USA), Director Nick Frangione
Carlos Almaraz Playing With Fire (USA), Directors Elsa Flores Almaraz, Richard Montoya (Schlesinger Documentary Competition)
The Last Color...
- 12/14/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
“Every week, we have received 5-8 letters from Oleg. He is involved in everything - in the cast, costumes, props, and set construction.”
Final preparations are now underway for the start of prinicpal photography on Numbers, the feature film based on the 2011 play of the same name by the imprisoned Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov. It will be directed by Ukrainian actor-director Akhtem Seitablaev on Sentsov’s recommendation.
Sentsov is in a remote Arctic prison camp in protest at his detention and that of some 70 compatriots in Russia. He was on hunger strike for 145 days, which ended in October.
He had...
Final preparations are now underway for the start of prinicpal photography on Numbers, the feature film based on the 2011 play of the same name by the imprisoned Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov. It will be directed by Ukrainian actor-director Akhtem Seitablaev on Sentsov’s recommendation.
Sentsov is in a remote Arctic prison camp in protest at his detention and that of some 70 compatriots in Russia. He was on hunger strike for 145 days, which ended in October.
He had...
- 12/12/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Film FestivalAmong the world cinema are films by directors Kim Ki-duk, Jean-Luc Godard, Jahar Panahi, Spike Lee, Lars von Trier and Olivier Assayas. Asghar Farhadi's 'Everybody Knows' is the inaugural film. Tnm StaffStill from 'Everybody Knows'iffk has not broken its tradition. There is going to be a Kim Ki-duk film this time as well among the 90 odd pictures coming from various parts of the world. It's called Human, Space, Time and Human. Then there's Jean-Luc Godard's The Image Book. Banned Jafar Panahi’s 3 Faces. Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. Lars von Trier’s The House That Jack Built. And Olivier Assayas’s Non-Fiction. In the world cinema category, are 26 films having their Indian premiers and two with their Asian premiers. Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows is the inaugural film. Asghar's film About Elly had won the Golden Crow Pheasant (Suvarna Chakoram) at Iffk, 2009. Everybody Knows tells the story of...
- 11/30/2018
- by Cris
- The News Minute
The rebooted Cairo Film Festival has wrapped with the event’s top prize, the Golden Pyramid, going to “A Twelve-Year Night,” Uruguay’s candidate for the foreign-language Oscar. The award, presented Thursday night, came with a $20,000 check that was given to the producers of “Night,” a harrowing drama about Uruguay’s former military dictatorship.
Thai auteur Phuttiphing Aroonpheng’s hypnotic “Manta Ray” and Ukranian director Segei Loznitsa’s dystopian “Donbass,” about the degradation of civil society in the fake news era, tied for Silver Pyramid honors. The Bronze Pyramid for best first or second work went to British helmer Jamie Jones for his debut, “Obey,” a tragic love story set amid the 2011 London riots.
Oscar-winning Danish director Bille August headed the main jury for the Cairo festival’s 40th edition. The fest is the oldest such event in the Arab and African worlds and has undergone a major makeover under its new chief,...
Thai auteur Phuttiphing Aroonpheng’s hypnotic “Manta Ray” and Ukranian director Segei Loznitsa’s dystopian “Donbass,” about the degradation of civil society in the fake news era, tied for Silver Pyramid honors. The Bronze Pyramid for best first or second work went to British helmer Jamie Jones for his debut, “Obey,” a tragic love story set amid the 2011 London riots.
Oscar-winning Danish director Bille August headed the main jury for the Cairo festival’s 40th edition. The fest is the oldest such event in the Arab and African worlds and has undergone a major makeover under its new chief,...
- 11/30/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A version of this story about “Donbass” first appeared in the Foreign Language Issue of TheWrap’s Oscar magazine.
The war in eastern Ukraine between the government and the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic is the subject of Sergei Loznitsa’s acidic and episodic film “Donbass,” part black comedy and part tragedy.
The film, which looks at the violence and corruption at every level of society, is Ukraine’s submission in this year’s Oscar foreign-language race. This interview with the prolific director, who has released three movies this year, is part of a series of conversations TheWrap had with the directors of contending films.
Also Read: 'Donbass' Review: Jarring War Film Reminds Us That No One Is Safe
I understand the film was inspired by YouTube videos.
Sergei Loznitsa: For the script, I did use some YouTube videos which I have seen. Or propaganda videos on the news.
The war in eastern Ukraine between the government and the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic is the subject of Sergei Loznitsa’s acidic and episodic film “Donbass,” part black comedy and part tragedy.
The film, which looks at the violence and corruption at every level of society, is Ukraine’s submission in this year’s Oscar foreign-language race. This interview with the prolific director, who has released three movies this year, is part of a series of conversations TheWrap had with the directors of contending films.
Also Read: 'Donbass' Review: Jarring War Film Reminds Us That No One Is Safe
I understand the film was inspired by YouTube videos.
Sergei Loznitsa: For the script, I did use some YouTube videos which I have seen. Or propaganda videos on the news.
- 11/18/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Oscar for foreign-language film may ostensibly represent world cinema at an evening otherwise largely dedicated to Hollywood, but it’s marked by its own form of cultural hegemony: Eurocentrism.
Of the 70 foreign-language films (including special award winners) honored as the year’s best by the Academy, a whopping 56 have been from Europe. For the less math-inclined, that’s 80% — a figure attributable in part to the relative density of developed film industries on the Continent, whatever other biases may be at play. Of the national submissions for this year’s award, for example, more than 40% are European productions — including many of those most hotly tipped for a nomination.
Related Content Critical Analysis: Japan, South Korea in Vanguard of Oscar Titles
Arguably the film leading this year’s European charge comes from a recent winner in the category: Poland’s Pawel Pawlikowski, whose arthouse smash “Ida” cut a clear path to victory in the 2014 season.
Of the 70 foreign-language films (including special award winners) honored as the year’s best by the Academy, a whopping 56 have been from Europe. For the less math-inclined, that’s 80% — a figure attributable in part to the relative density of developed film industries on the Continent, whatever other biases may be at play. Of the national submissions for this year’s award, for example, more than 40% are European productions — including many of those most hotly tipped for a nomination.
Related Content Critical Analysis: Japan, South Korea in Vanguard of Oscar Titles
Arguably the film leading this year’s European charge comes from a recent winner in the category: Poland’s Pawel Pawlikowski, whose arthouse smash “Ida” cut a clear path to victory in the 2014 season.
- 11/8/2018
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
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