Donbass (film)

For the region in Ukraine, see Donbas.

Donbass
Film poster
Directed bySergei Loznitsa
Written bySergei Loznitsa
Produced byHeino Deckert
CinematographyOleg Mutu
Edited byDanielius Kokanauskis
Release dates
  • 9 May 2018 (2018-05-09) (Cannes)
  • 20 September 2018 (2018-09-20) (Ukraine)
Running time
122 minutes
CountriesFrance
Germany
Netherlands
Romania
Ukraine
LanguagesRussian
Ukrainian
Budget€ 2.5 million[1]
Box office$78,133[2][3]

Donbass is a 2018 black comedy war film written and directed by Sergei Loznitsa.[4][5] It was selected as the opening film in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.[6][7] At Cannes, Loznitsa won the Un Certain Regard award for Best Director, as well as the Silver Pyramid at the 40th Cairo International Film Festival. It was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[8] It was filmed in Kryvyi Rih, 300 km west of separatist-occupied Donetsk.[9] At the 49th International Film Festival of India it received the Main Prize - Golden Peacock for Best Feature Film.[10][11][12]

Plot

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The film consists of a series of episodes about the realities in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine. The scenes are interconnected according to the principle of plotting in Buñuel's The Phantom of the Opera, where a new character from one episode moves to another. The storylines are reconstructions of real events recorded in professional reports, amateur YouTube videos, and memories of local residents. For example, in one scene, a German journalist and a Ukrainian cameraman meet with Russian soldiers who wear no insignia and pretend to be Donetsk militia. Loznitsa learned about this incident from documentary filmmaker Oleksandr Techynskyi, who starred in Donbas as himself. The incident of the lynching of a captured Ukrainian volunteer by the population of the occupied territories actually took place in Zugres.[13] A grotesque episode with a solemn event at the Novorossiysk registry office represents the wedding of the militia members "Kukla" and "BMW".[14]

Production

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Budget

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The film became one of the winners of the Eighth Competition of the Ukrainian State Film Agency. In November 2017, the Ukrainian State Film Agency signed an agreement to provide a share of state funding for the film's production. The total budget of the project amounted to UAH 71 million 340 thousand (EUR 2.5 million), of which Ukrainian funding amounted to UAH 16.7 million.[15][16] "Donbas was co-produced by Germany, Ukraine, the Netherlands, France, and Romania. The Ukrainian co-producer was Denys Ivanov and the Arthouse Traffic film company. In December 2017, the project was financially supported by Eurimages.[17]

Filming

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Filming began on February 8, 2018, on the outskirts of Kryvyi Rih in the Ternivka district of the Dnipro region and lasted for 4 days.[18]

Reception

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Critical response

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Donbass has an approval rating of 88% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 58 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus states, “Brutally powerful and brilliantly filmed, Donbass illustrates man's inhumanity with visceral effectiveness.”[19] It also has a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 17 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.[20]

Awards

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Loznitsa won the Un Certain Regard award for Best Director at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.[21] He also won the Silver Pyramid, also known as the Special Jury Prize for Best Director, at the 40th Cairo International Film Festival, tied with Thai director Phuttiphong Aroonpheng for Manta Ray.[22] It won Golden Peacock (Best Film) at the 49th International Film Festival of India.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Blaga, Iulia. "PRODUCTION: Romanian Minority Coproduction Donbass by Sergei Loznitsa in Postproduction - FilmNewEurope.com". www.filmneweurope.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Donbass". The Numbers. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Donbass". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Donbass review – Sergei Loznitsa is cinema's ultimate bad time merchant". Little White Lies.
  5. ^ "Review: War in Ukraine reflects deceit, division and corruption in black comedy 'Donbass'". Los Angeles Times. 20 November 2020.
  6. ^ "The 2018 Official Selection". Cannes. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Cannes Lineup Includes New Films From Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard". Variety. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  8. ^ Kozlov, Vladimir (29 August 2018). "Oscars: Ukraine Selects 'Donbass' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Donbass, le regard de Sergei Loznitsa - Festival de Cannes". www.festival-cannes.com (in French). 9 May 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  10. ^ "IFFI 2018 to showcase 212 films". The Indian Express. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  11. ^ History. "Film Sections". Iffi Goa. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  12. ^ "49th IFFI to showcase 212 films, Israel in focus – The Shillong Times". Theshillongtimes.com. 6 November 2018. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Боевики привязали патриота с флагом Украины к "столбу позора" в Зугрэсе". ТСН.ua (in Russian). 7 October 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  14. ^ Волчек, Дмитрий (9 May 2018). "В смешном аду Новороссии. "Донбасс" Сергея Лозницы". Радио Свобода (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  15. ^ Blaga, Iulia. "PRODUCTION: Romanian Minority Coproduction Donbass by Sergei Loznitsa in Postproduction - FilmNewEurope.com". www.filmneweurope.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Фільм "Донбас" Сергія Лозниці отримає підтримку фонду Eurimages". LB.ua (in Ukrainian). 21 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  17. ^ "Фільм «Донбас» Сергія Лозниці підтримано фондом Eurimages". Arthouse Traffic (in Ukrainian). 21 December 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  18. ^ "Знімання фільму «Донбас» Сергія Лозниці стартувало на Дніпропетровщині". Детектор медіа (in Ukrainian). 10 February 2018. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Donbass (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Donbass" – via www.metacritic.com.
  21. ^ Lodge, Guy (18 May 2018). "Cannes: 'Border' Leads Un Certain Regard Award Winners". Variety. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  22. ^ Boas, Matthew (3 December 2018). "Álvaro Brechner wins the Golden Pyramid at Cairo with A Twelve-Year Night". Cineuropa. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
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