As Ukrainian cinematographers keep bringing awards back home, Ukrainian war drama “Bad Roads” has added another trophy to the list, as it won an award on Sept. 11 at Italy’s Venice International Film Critics’ Week, a film competition presented by the Union of Italian Film Critics.
Though the competition takes place at the same time and location as the better-known Venice International Film Festival, it is independent of it, as both have different film judges and awards.
A directorial debut of playwright and filmmaker Natalya Vorozhbit, the picture received the Verona Film Club Award which is granted to the most innovative film in the competition.
“Congratulations to Natasha and everyone involved in the film,” the drama’s producer Yura Minzianoff wrote on Facebook on Sept. 11. “This is a very big achievement for a novice director.”
“Bad Roads” joins a growing number of Ukrainian-made films acknowledged at prestigious international events marking the renaissance of Ukrainian cinema.
Vorozhbyt’s film is based on her own play. It puts together five stories taking place in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas, as Russia’s war continues to destroy the area and lives of locals and soldiers. The film takes a close-up look at how the war affects people and the relationships between them.
“Bad Roads” was financed by the Ukrainian Cultural Fund, a state organization that aims to support the development of national culture and art. The fund allocated Hr 11 million ($400,000) for the movie’s production.
This year’s competition program of the critics week featured nine directorial debuts.
“Ghosts,” a picture by Turkish director Azra Deniz Okyay portraying the transformations of modern Turkey, won Grand Prize, the top award of the program.
Vorozhbit’s other acclaimed works include screenplays for another war drama “Cyborgs: Heroes Never Die.” Along with Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan, she also co-wrote a script for comedy-drama “The Wild Fields,” an adaptation of Zhadan’s novel “Voroshylovhrad.”
Last month Ukrainian post-war drama “Atlantis” has been selected for the long list of this year’s European Film Awards presented by the European Film Academy.
