Ukrainian Film "Golden Leggings" Wins at Berlin Film Festival
The short Ukrainian film "Golden Leggings", directed by Arkadiy Nepytaliuk and produced by Family Production, has been awarded the Best Live Action at the 39th International Short Film Festival Berlin.
This is stated on the Festival's Facebook page.
The story unfolds in the summer of 1991 at a youth camp near the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. Life at the camp seems to "stop between the past and the future," and the children and counselors are unaware that their destinies will change forever in just a few days.
"On August 19, 1991, life is in full swing at the youth camp near Zaporizhzhia: 14-year-old Andriy steals gifts for Ira to express his feelings and escapes from a policeman. Counselor Taras is in love with the camp director Halyna, but she doesn’t have time for him. The camp's head and former dissident Petrovych brings news: there are protests in Moscow, and 'Swan Lake' is playing on TV since morning," according to the statement by the State Film Agency of Ukraine.
Last month, "Golden Leggings" also received the Best Fiction Short Film Award at Cinécole 2023.
Previously, The Gaze reported that the documentary "20 Days in Mariupol" by Mstyslav Chernov won the Audience Award at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA 2023). The film documents the horrific facts of the genocidal war that Russia is waging in Ukraine.
Additionally, the Ukrainian-Dutch film "Forever-Forever," the debut feature by Ukrainian director Anna Buriachkova, won the main prize at the 33rd international film festival in Cottbus, Germany. Buriachkova's work tells the coming-of-age story of Ukrainian girl Tonya against the backdrop of one of the most critical periods in Ukraine's history—the turbulent 90s.
The film had its world premiere at the 80th Venice Film Festival in Orizzonti Extra.
Let's recall that due to Russia's genocidal war in Ukraine, many artists, writers, actors, musicians, directors, sculptors, and cultural figures were forced to take up arms in defense of their homeland. Some of them perished, such as the Paris Opera soloist, singer Vasyl Slipak, actor Pasha Lee, musician and founder of the Kyiv Rock School Volodymyr Bulba, and writer and public figure Victoria Amelina.
Previously, The Gaze reported on 7 films about the unprovoked and bloody war of Russia in Ukraine.