Category Archives: Ukraine

A review: “DAU. Natasha” [2020, Russia, Germany, Ukraine]

Rarely does one bump into a film with an ambiguous origin, uncertain of the exact time that the first seed of an idea was sown. While we might have encountered films made from ‘found-footage’ or other reality shows, nothing … Continue reading

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Sometimes, subtitles can be a hindrance: “Plemya” [2014, Ukraine]

Miroslav Slaboshpytskiy makes an assured feature film début with his astonishing film, “Plemya” [Eng. Title: the Tribe]. With dialogues entirely in Ukrainian sign-language (which the director himself is not fluent in) and presented without subtitles, voice-overs, or even background music, it forces … Continue reading

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Oksana Borbat and Valentina Vyntu in “Hutorskie strasti” [2008 Ukraine]

This is one of my ‘guilty-pleasure’ posts as I wasn’t in a mood for anything particularly deep this week. Ukrainian director Aleksandr Parkhomenko’s “Hutorskie strasti” translates as Hamlet of Passion, a comedy that resembles one of the gleefully naughty stocking-fillers … Continue reading

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