Section: Ukranian Film Day

ЗА ПЕРЕМОГУ!

TO THE VICTORY!

Valentyn Vasyanovych
UA/LT, 2025, 107 Min

ДО ПЕРЕМОГИ!

Валентин Васянович, Україна/Литва, 2025, 107 хв

Ukraine one year after the war. They celebrate victory, and yet the population is dwindling, or never returned. Those who remain try to make the best of it. Among them is arthouse director Roman, who also has to cope with his pubescent son. A true-to-life reflection on family, fatherland, and film-making, one that explores serious themes with a light touch and fascinating visual compositions.

#dramedy #family #rawemotions
(C)FFC

Roman, played by the director of the film Valentyn Vasyanovych, lives with his 18-year-old son, a good-for-nothing in his eyes, who does nothing but sit in front of his computer and only ever goes to the cinema "with popcorn and for entertainment," while he himself makes "films for intelligent people." His wife and daughter live in Vienna, have already learned the language, and "no doubt my wife already has a love interest there." And all the while Roman toils away with low-budget film-making and is forced to endure dispassionately moderated Zoom Q&As in front of unenthusiastic arthouse audiences. Vasyanovych once again excels with his tableau-like images, which are infused with self-ironic undertones, whether about the fate of the arthouse film-maker or about social drinking with his male friends. And he remains the keen observer he has always been: whether it is the man-woman relationship (it goes wrong), the father-son relationship (a reconciliatory ending), or the camaraderie between real colleagues ("One step beyond!"), all of these are illuminated with pointedness and psychological depth. Vasyanovych describes his film as a dystopia, in continuation of his previous films ATLANTIS and REFLECTION – both of which dealt with his country at war. In TO THE VICTORY! whilst the fighting is over, the war and its repercussions for the people and their souls lives on.

Vasayanovych: „The impetus for starting work on the film was the departure of my wife and daughter abroad because of the war. The families of my friends were also separated and, unfortunately, began to break apart. These dramatic stories were happening before my eyes. I was thinking about my own family, which seemed not to be directly threatened, but time and distance could take their toll. How long the war might last, no one knows. Whether another populist might come to power after the war—no one knows. Whether Ukraine would revive after the war or become a gray buffer zone—also no one knows. Whether my wife would return at that time—I did not know either. That is why I decided to focus on the future and imagine myself in a country that had withstood a great war, but in which survival is far from simple.“

Text: Bernd Buder

 

Thu 06.11. I 17:30 I WELTSPIEGEL GROSSER SAAL I original version with English and German subtitles

Fri 07.11. I 10:00 I WELTSPIEGEL SAAL 3 I original version with English and German subtitles

 

Квитки / Tickets:
https://www.filmfestivalcottbus.de/de/programm/sektionen/movie/2788.html

Drehbuch
Valentyn Vasyanovych
Kamera
Mykhailo Lubarsky, Valentyn Vasyanovych
Ton
Serhiy Stepansky
Schnitt
Valentyn Vasyanovych
Ausstattung
Vlad Odudenko
Musik
Dominykas Digimas
Darsteller
Valentyn Vasyanovych, Vladlen Odudenko, Marianna Novikova, Hryhoriy Naumov, Volodymyr Kuznetsov
Produzent
Brigita Beniusyte, Iya Myslytska, Marija Razgute, Valentyn Vasyanovych, Anna Yatsenko, Volodymyr Yatsenko
Produktion
ForeFilms, Arsenal Films, M-Films
Valentyn Vasyanovych

Valentyn Vasyanovych - Valentyn Vasyanovych was born in Zhytomyr,Ukraine, and studied at the Kyiv NationalUniversity of Theatre, Cinema and Television andAndrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directingin Warsaw. He worked as a producer and DOPon Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s The Tribe, whichwas one of the biggest international successof Ukrainian film. To The Victory! rounds out hisdystopian trilogy of which Atlantis won Best Filmat Venice Orrizonti in 2019 and Reflection playedin Venice Competition in 2022.

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