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. But 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.

Programme section: Cinema Current
Original title: Лебядзіная песня Фёдара Озерава | Year: 2025 | Duration: 78′
Country: Lithuania, Germany | Language: Russian, Belorussian | Subtitles: English
Director: Yuri Semashko | Production: Kęstutis Drazdauskas – ArtBox; Shoot’n’Post, Belarusian Filmmakers Network, Singo | Cast: Viachaslau Kmit, Violetta Rahachova, Pavel Haradnitski, Anastasiya Rysik | Screenplay: Siarhei Kavaliou | Cinematography: Marko Brdar | 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.