DAVAY, TANTSYUY!

Together with his younger brother, Nick shoots modern dance videos in the conflict zone that is eastern Ukraine, that is until they get caught up in gun and shell fire and his brother is wounded. Nick travels to Kiev in an attempt to win the money required for an operation in a dance battle, having arrived in the capital however he comes up against a number of obstacles that he has to overcome to make his dreams a reality: in conversation with taxi drivers this native speaker of Russian could do with a better working knowledge of Ukrainian, the locals regard him as a simpleton from the east and his fellow competitors connive behind his back. Ultimately however the chance of capturing the prize money, not to mention the heart of beautiful singer Lisa, keeps him going.

In this, his latest film, Berezan has concocted a fast-paced tour de force that deals with issues such as war, friendship, courage and same-sex relations. In particular the dance scenes and images of Nick charging through the city on his inline skates will live long in the memory. NaF