Upcoming: On Tour LHC Utrecht · Sun, 27 Oct · “The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov”
ENFF continues with the On Tour screenings, this time at LHC Utrecht. Join us on 27th October at 19:00 hours for Yuri Semashko’s The Swan Song Of Fedor Ozerov.
Amid rumours of World War III, a young Minsk musician embarks on a frantic search for his lucky sweater. Although dressed in a whimsically surreal coat, the film becomes a poignant exploration of art, love, and resistance in a world teetering on the edge.
A few days before the New Year, 25-year-old musician Fedor Ozerov returns home after a long journey, determined to form a band and write new music. His creative plans are derailed by the looming threat of World War III, rumoured to begin on January 1st. While his activist sister and the media stoke widespread panic about the impending disaster, Fedor remains focused solely on music. However, his world is shaken when he discovers that his beloved daisy-patterned sweater has mysteriously vanished. Convinced the pullover holds magical powers, as it did for its former rockstar owner, Fedor embarks on a quest to retrieve it. Marked by a unique visual style and offbeat humour, this playful film was shot as a Lithuanian production on a micro-budget with a passionate Belarus crew in exile and has received international acclaim, including the Tagesspiegel Award at Berlinale.
Join us at Louis Hartlooper Complex Utrecht for the screening on the 27th of October at 19 hours. Secure your tickets through the link below.
Film details
Director: Jasmila Žbanić
Original title: Лебядзіная песня Фёдара Озерава
Year: 2025
Countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany
Languages: Russian, Belarusian
Duration: 78′
Subtitles: English
Production: Kęstutis Drazdauskas – ArtBox; Shoot’n’Post, Belarusian Filmmakers Network, Singo
Cast: Viachaslau Kmit, Violetta Rahachova, Pavel Haradnitski, Anastasiya Rysik
Cinematography: Siarhei Kavaliou
Editing: Yuri Semashko
Music: Sinie Gory
Festivals & Awards (selection)
Berlin International Film Festival, 2025 – World Premiere (Forum), Tagesspiegel Readers’ Jury Award | Jeonju International Film Festival, 2025 | New Horizons International Film Festival, 2025 | Helsinki International Film Festival, 2025 | Filmadrid International Film Festival, 2025 – Audience Award, Youth Jury Prize
Director’s Bio
Yuri Semashko was born in Minsk, Belarus, in 1993 and is an engineer by training. A self-taught filmmaker, he has made several short films and animations, including “Blood and Karaoke” (Exground Filmfest, 2024), “Garbage Head” (International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, 2023) and “When I Was a General” (2021). His feature debut, “The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov”, premiered at Berlinale in 2025. He currently lives and works in Warsaw.
Director’s Statement
I like artificial things because in these worlds, you can do anything, and it feels natural inside this world. And if I want to send my characters to the kingdom of Hades, I just send them there, if I need to. Even the sweater: it’s just a sweater, but maybe it’s magic! The sweater has a metaphoric meaning, not a real one. Maybe it brings inspiration. Maybe it takes fear away. The lead actor is in reality a musician, not a professional actor. It was his first film, and he was living through a creative crisis. He couldn’t write a single new song. But during the shoot, he found inspiration – maybe because of the sweater – and he just wrote a whole album in a day or two after we finished shooting. So, this process inspired him in real life. Of course, it’s just all in your head. But I think creative people are also very superstitious.
