Cinema in the Shadow of Empire: BAD ROADS (2020)
About the Film
Directed by Natalia Vorozhbit
Ukraine’s entry for the Best International Feature Film, 94th Academy Awards
Not Rated
106 minutes
Four short stories are set along the roads of Donbas during the war. There are no safe spaces and no one can make sense of just what is going on. Even as they are trapped in the chaos, some manage to wield authority over others. But in this world, where tomorrow may never come, not everyone is defenseless and miserable. Even the most innocent victims may have their turn at taking charge.
About the Director
Natalya Vorozhbit (1975) was born in Kiev and graduated from the Moscow Literary Institute. Bad Roads, her first film, was originally presented on stage in 2017 at the Royal Court Theater in London. The Royal Shakespeare Company produced her play The Grain Store in 2009; and her 2014 play Maidan: Voices From The Uprising was staged during the same season that year at both the Royal Court in London and Theatre.doc in Moscow. Vorozhbit was head writer for the acclaimed 2010 Russian TV series School and wrote the feature films STEEL BUTTERFLY (2012), WILD FIELDS(2016), and CYBORGS (2017).
Tickets
Film screenings are free, but tickets are required. Contact the DeBartolo Performing Arts ticket office at 574-631-2800 or order tickets online.
Spring 2023: Cinema in the Shadow of Empire
March 22: Klondike, written and directed by Maryna Er Gorbach (2022)
A Ukrainian family living on the border of Russia and Ukraine during the start of the 2014 Donbas war find themselves at the center of an international catastrophe of flight MH17.
March 29: Stop-Zemlia, directed by Kateryna Gornostai (2021)
From a debutant Ukrainian director Kateryna Gornostai, a deeply personal coming-of-age story about self-discovery and the patience it requires.
April 5: Reflection, directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych (2021)
Ukrainian surgeon tries to find purpose in life after his capture and release by the Russian military forces in Eastern Ukraine.
April 12: Volcano, directed by Roman Bondarchuk (2018)
Lukas, an interpreter for a military mission, gets lost near a remote Ukrainian village and stumbles from simple misadventure into the weirdest road trip of his life.
April 19: Bad Roads, directed by Natalia Vorozhbit (2020)
Four stories of love, hate, trust, betrayal and violation of personal borders projected against the background of the violation of national borders.
Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.