Directed by Philip Sotnychenko • 2023 • Ukraine

Two gunshots, separated by a quarter of a century: Philip Sotnychenko’s elusive, enthralling debut feature uncovers the hidden connections between the violence of the past and the present. Shot in pseudo-documentary style on outdated digital cameras that recreate the feel of nineties VHS recordings, the murky narrative centres around an investigation into the murder of a police colonel in 1996 that ultimately leads to the final execution to take place in independent Ukraine. 25 years later, shortly before Russia’a full-scale invasion, a new generation of young Ukrainians are facing their own personal and political crises, with shocking consequences. But what links these two sets of characters? Sotnychenko’s meta-cinematic investigation into the alienated underbelly of post-Soviet Ukraine is a muted reckoning with a past that must be confronted before its insidious grip on the present can be loosened.

LA PALISIADA • ЛЯ ПАЛІСІАДА
Directed by Philip Sotnychenko
Written by Philip Sotnychenko and Alina Panasenko
Cinematography by Volodymyr Usyk
Starring: Andrii Zhurba, Novruz Hikmet Pashayev, Valeria Oleinikova

In Ukrainian, Russian, and Azerbaijani with English subtitles

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film at Rotterdam International Film Festival 2023