Volcano

The new voice of Ukrainian cinema, after winning awards with “Ukrainian Sheriffs”, comes back with this amazing surreal narrative: “In deserted land of South Ukraine, in this dramatic moment of history in my country, I found a wild and forgotten place of anarchy; a new provincial order, where people live their own lives, some of them even without any documents or connection to the state”. Screenings will be followed by Q&A with the director/writer Roman Bondarchuk, co-writer and one of the producers Dar’ya Averchenko, and on Saturday with special musical performance by Ukrainian choir Chervoni Korali.

Synopsis

A series of odd coincidences has left Lukas, an interpreter for an OSCE military checkpoint inspection tour, stranded near a small southern Ukrainian steppe town. With nowhere to turn, this city boy finds shelter at the home of a colourful local named Vova. With Vova as his guide, Lukas is confronted by a universe beyond his imagination, one in which life seems utterly detached from any identifiable structure. Fascinated by his host and his host’s daughter Marushka, with whom he is rapidly falling in love, Lukas’s contempt for provincial life slowly melts away and sets him on a quest for a happiness he had never known could exist. An amusing, weird road trip, beautifully shot, that ponders over self-recognition and happiness. More than a film, an experience!

Festivals & Awards (selection)

Karlovy Vary IFF, 2018 – World Premiere | Filmfest München | Golden Apricot, Yerevan IFF – Best Feature Film | Almaty FF, Kazakhstan – Best Director Award | Split FF, Croatia – Grand Prix | Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon IFF, China – Audience Award | Minsk IFF Listapad – Best Sound/Score | Rabat International Author FF, Morocco – Grand Prix | Goa IFFI, India – Special Jury Mention | Minneapolis St. Paul IFF, USA – Special Jury Award | Fribourg IFF, 2019 – Ecumenical Jury Award (Special Mention)

Director’s bio

Roman Bondarchuk is a graduate of the Karpenko-Kary Theater, Film and Television University (Yuriy Illienko’s workshop). Bondarchuk is the art director of Docudays UA – International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Kyiv. Bondarchuk co-directed Euromaidan. Rough Cut, a film about the events on Maidan Square, which screened at IDFA, amongst others. He has made a number of shorts, documentaries and music videos that have received awards at Ukrainian and international festivals. Ukrainian Sheriffs (2015) was his first feature-length documentary which won a Special Jury Award at IDFA 2015 and was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards. His first feature ‘Volcano’ was premiered at Karlovy Vary film festival, has travelled to more than 50 international festivals and received 9 awards.

Selected Filmography: Volcano (Feature, 2018) | Dixie Land (Documentary, 2016) – Winner Best Film in the National Competition, Odessa International Film Festival 2017. Other festivals included: Full Frame (USA – world premiere), Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (USA), Vilnius Documentary film festival (Lithuania), Noida IFF (India), Makedox (Macedonia), BIAFF (Batumi, Georgia), CineDoc (Tbilisi, Georgia) | Ukrainian Sheriffs (Documentary, 2015) – Official Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards; IDFA (Winner Special Jury Award), Docs Against Gravity (Winner Grand Prix); Sofia IFF, Thessaloniki IFF, Hot Docs, Odessa IFF, Riga IFF | Euromaidan. Rough Cut (Documentary, 2014) | Commemoration Day (Short, 2007)