Three Ukrainian films compete for Oscar 2025
6 December 2024 09:56
The American Film Academy has announced the longlist of contenders for the Oscars 2025, and the official list of 169 films includes three Ukrainian films. This was reported by the State Film Agency of Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The Ukrainian contenders are the films La Palisade (directed by Philip Sotnychenko) and The Porcelain War (directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontiev), as well as the documentary Peaceful People (directed by Oksana Karpovych).
La Palisade is presented in the International Feature Film category. As noted on the Planeta Kino website, the crime drama La Palisiada is the feature debut of Ukrainian director and screenwriter Philip Sotnychenko. Alina Panasenko assisted in writing the story. Financial support for the creative team was provided by the State Film Agency. Preparations for the shooting lasted 5 years.
The film tells the story of two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, investigating the murder of their colleague in Ukraine in 1996, 5 months before the introduction of the moratorium on the death penalty.
Not only costumers and set designers worked to recreate the atmosphere of the 1990s. They searched for and bought equipment and film of that time all over the world. Some scenes were shot as if they were a chronicle of those years. The first screening of the film took place at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. At the same time, the International Federation of the Film Press awarded the work with the FIPRESCI Prize.
Back in September, the Ukrainian Oscar Committee chose La Palisade as the film to represent Ukraine in the Best International Feature Film category.
“The Porcelain War is the story of three Ukrainian porcelain artists working against the backdrop of war.
According to the website of the Independence American Film Festival, this film is a collaboration between American Brendan Bellomo and Kharkiv-based Slava Leontiev about Ukrainian ceramic artists Slava, Anya and Andriy, who decide to stay and fight when the war starts.
“The Porcelain War is a real cinematic gem. Slava Leontyev and co-director Brendan Bellomo manage to gracefully capture the dissonance between the horrors of war and the fragile beauty of nature and artistic practices. Ania and Slava’s porcelain pieces come to life in a sophisticated animation that introduces the viewer to the story of their creators and the difficulties they overcome.
The film won two awards at the Boulder International Film Festival – the Grand Prix for Best Documentary Feature and the Audience Award in the Documentary Feature category.
“Peaceful People (directed by Oksana Karpovych) is a documentary based on radio intercepts of conversations between Russian occupiers and families, which illustrates their everyday attitude to cruelty.
According to Planeta Kino, the documentary Peaceful People was co-produced by Canada, France and Ukraine. The film was directed and scripted by Oksana Karpovych, a Kyiv resident who has been living in Canada since 2013. Work on the film began in the spring of 2022. The filmmaker listened to 31 hours of conversations between Russian military personnel. All audio materials are publicly available on the official channels of the Ukrainian special services.
What’s next?
As hromadske reminds us, the announcement of the longlist is only the initial stage in the process of determining Oscar nominees. Next, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will compile a shortlist. From the shortlist, the jury will vote for the five final nominees in each category.
In total, the long list of the 97th Academy Awards includes 169 films. The short list of 15 films will be announced on December 17, and the nominees will be announced on January 17, 2025.
The award ceremony will take place on the night of March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. For the first time, the ceremony will be hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.
Ukraine has already won an Oscar
In 2024, a Ukrainian film won the prestigious Academy Award for the first time. It was the film 20 Days in Mariupol by war correspondent Mstyslav Chernov and photographer Yevhen Malolietka. It won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.
