| Director: | Valentyn Vasyanovych |
|---|---|
| Production: | Arsenal Films (Iya Myslytska,Valentyn Vasyanovych), Forefilms (Vladimir Yatsenko, Anna Sobolevska) |
| Running Time: | 125’ |
| Language: | Ukrainian |
| Country: | Ukraine |
| Main Cast: | Roman Lutskyi, Nika Myslytska, Nadia Levchenko, Andriy Rymaruk, Ihor Shulha |
| Screenplay: | Valentyn Vasyanovych |
| Cinematographer: | Valentyn Vasyanovych |
| Editor: | Valentyn Vasyanovych |
| Production Designer: | Vladlen Odudenko |
| Costume Designer: | Olena Harmanenko |
| Sound: | Serhiy Stepanskiy |
Cinema
Vidblysk (Reflection)
Venezia 78 Competition
Synopsis
Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy is captured by the Russian military forces in the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine and while in captivity, he is exposed to horrifying scenes of humiliation, violence and indifference towards human life.
After his release, he returns to his comfortable middle-class apartment and tries to find a purpose in life by rebuilding his relationship with his daughter and ex-wife.
He learns how to be a human being again, how to be a father and help his daughter, who needs his love and support.
Director’s statement
The beginning of my work on this story was inspired by a pigeon. It crashed against our window, flying at a high speed. The pattern that was left was both beautiful and horrifying. The detailed imprint of the wings, the bloody trace from the impact of the head, feathers that stuck to the glass: my 10-year-old daughter saw it all. In the next days, we were affected by this event. Her worries, questions, expectations of miraculous resurrection, denial of the irreversibility of this event, and attempts to understand death from a child’s point of view prompted me to write a story about a father-daughter relationship in the midst of grieving over the death of a loved one.
The death of one of the characters is connected to the war, which continues in the eastern part of the Ukraine. By connecting the comfortable day-to-day life of the capital city with the deadly reality of the war, we establish a high intensity background for a story about children’s fears and their first encounters with real death, and highlight the helplessness of adults. It is a translucent story about the child’s realisation that human life is finite. This is also a story about the responsibilities of adults to loved ones, to themselves, and the whole world in which they fulfil their potential. The child and the adult will help each other to understand this cruel and beautiful world, so similar to the imprint of the pigeon on the glass.
Production/Distribution
PRODUCTION 1: Iya Myslytska,Valentyn Vasyanovych - Arsenal Films
11, Provulok Chekhovsky, of. 19.,
01054 – Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel. +380 97 222 3710
vasyanovych@ukr.net
PRODUCTION 2: Vladimir Yatsenko, Anna Sobolevska – ForeFilms
Yaroslaviv Val St. 4, app. 7
02000 – Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel. +380 673837508
vladimir@forefilms.com
WORLD SALES: Jan Naszewski - New Europe Film Sales
Puławska 152/5
02-670 – Warszawa, Poland
Tel. +48 600173205
jan@neweuropefilmsales.com
http://www.neweuropefilmsales.com
INTERNATIONAL PRESS OFFICE: Barbara Van Lombeek, Marie-France Dupagne, Julie Vanderhaeghen, Marion Vanderhaeghen – The PR Factory
21, rue des Myosotis
1180 – Brussels, Belgium
Mob (1). +32 486546480 (B. Van Lombeek)
Mob (2). +32 477 62 67 70 (M. Dupagne)
Mob (3). +32 473 37 38 07 (J. Vanderhaeghen)
Mob (4). +32 474 91 75 99 (M. Vanderhaeghen)
barbara@theprfactory.com
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