Directed by Sergei Loznitsa, drama, 121 min, eng subtitles, 16+
Written by Sergei Loznitsa
With Tamara Yatsenko, Liudmila Smorodina, Olesya Zhurakovskaya, Boris Kamorzin, Valeriu Andriuță
Opening film of the Certain Regard section at this year's Cannes Film Festival where it scooped the Best Director Award, Donbass is the fourth feature drama by the acclaimed Ukrainian-born director Sergei Loznitsa (CinEast’s guest and President of the Jury in 2014).
Inspired by amateur real-life videos (mostly found on YouTube), Loznitsa recreates the events that took place after the Ukrainian conflict broke out in 2014. Composed of 13 interconnected segments which are dynamically and audaciously orchestrated, Loznitsa takes us on a fascinating yet bitter journey through the Donbass region, immersing us in various facets of the still on-going war in Eastern Ukraine, while he lays bare its absurdities and Orwellian-like reality.
In this very up-to-date, powerful image of the self-proclaimed Novorussia, Loznitsa deals with corruption, of a financial and moral nature, post-truth, fake news and manipulation,via a chain of curious adventures that smoothly intertwine the grotesque and drama. A moving kaleidoscope of images from the war-worn region, a severely critical portrait of a battered society torn by bitterness, on the brink of losing its humanity somewhere in this frozen greyish territory nearly forgotten by the rest of the world.
This is not a tale of one region, one country or one political system. It is about a world, lost in post-truth and fake identities. It is about each and every one of us.
Awards
Cannes 2018 (Un Certain Regard - Best Director Award)
Karlovy Vary IFF (Another View)