Dovbush (in online presence of Oles Sanin)

Oles Sanin: Dovbush / Довбуш (UA 2023) starring Serhiy Strelnikov as Oleksa Dovbush. Photo: Ukrainian Film Days.

Довбуш / Dovbush: The Warrior of the Black Mountain / Dovbush: Lord of the Black Mountains
    Ukraine, 2022

Director: Oles Sanin

Cinematographer: Serhiy Mikhalchuk

Cast: Serhiy Strelnikov, Oleksii Hnatkovskiy, Daria Plakhtiy, Rostyslav Derzhypilkii, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz, Jerzy Schejbal, Agata Buzek

120 min

Genre: historical action adventure

Language: Ukrainian, with English subtitles. Also Polish, Yiddish, Romanian.

    Festival premiere: 19 Aug 2023 Odesa International Film Festival
    Ukrainian and German premiere: 24 Aug 2023

    Kinopalatsi, Helsinki, Ukrainian Film Days (UFD), 16 Nov 2023

UFD 2023: " Welcome to the VII Ukrainian Film Days, traditionally held every autumn in Helsinki. This year, we present four films produced in Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale invasion: “Dovbush”, “Mavka”, “Myrnyi-21” and “20 Days in Mariupol”. The program is multi-genre, as it is designed to present the diversity of Ukrainian film production and includes historical features, a family animation, and a documentary. All films are united by one idea: we are on our land – from the Carpathians to Mariupol, and we will defend our right to freedom. "

" To defend the freedom of the state, many artists have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including filmmakers. The screening of “Myrnyi-21” is dedicated to one of its stars, Pavlo Lee. The 33-year-old actor died on 6 March 2022 in Irpin. Additionally, actor Maksym Devizorov, director Akhtem Seitablaev and “Dovbush” cameraman Serhiy Mykhalchuk are all serving in the Armed Forces. We cherish the memory of our defenders. "

" This year we will host the following guests – Oles Sanin, director of “Dovbush”, and Vasilisa Stepanenko, field producer of “20 Days in Mariupol”. "

" The Ukrainian Film Days are held as part of the first Ukraine Season of Culture in Finland. Our goal is to present the culture of Ukraine, while touching upon the current situation in the country and supporting Ukrainian artists who lost the opportunity to work productively due to Russia’s invasion. "

Dovbush

UFD 2023: " Carpathians. Beginning of the 18th century. The brutal rule of the Polish nobility forces Hutsuls to flee to the mountains. Two brothers, Oleksa and Ivan Dovbush, find themselves to be outlaws and become opryshoks. In search of revenge on the lords for the murder of Dovbush’s parents, the brothers become enemies of each other. One yearns for money, the other for justice. Hutsuls start a rebellion led by Oleksa. The nobility does everything possible to destroy Dovbush. But he outwits them. So the legend of the Carpathian knight spread. A legend that inspires generations of those who fight for freedom of their native land. About the strength and love of Oleksa Dovbush, about betrayal and wrongdoing. About how he lived and how he cheated death. "

" The film is presented and followed by the Q&A with Oles Sanin, film director and screenwriter (“Mamai”, “The Guide”): “Every nation has its national hero. We have Dovbush. First of all, this is a story about freedom. This is a story about people who chose their own path, even at the cost of their lives to gain this freedom and defend it to the last”. "

AA: We started the screening with a moment of silence in honour of Ukraine's war martyrs and heroes. Slava Ukrainy. It has become the standard greeting by now.

Oles Sanin's Dovbush is a grandiose Ukrainian historical adventure epic in the lineage of Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers and Zorro.

In 1733, in the turbulent years after the Great Northern War, Ukrainian peasants revolt against foreign oppressors in their ravaged country. Their leader in an ingenious guerrilla warfare in the magnificent forests, rivers and mountains is Oleksa Dovbush, a mythical folk hero with a background in actual documented history.

The action scenes are thrilling, the derring-do is amazing, and the warfare is unflinchingly brutal but never gratuitous. The conflict of the Dovbush brothers (one is for money, another for honour) is a key tragic element.

Dovbush is also a great love story of Oleksa Dovbush (Sergay Strelnikov) and Marichka (Daria Plakhtii). Their death-defying love is the key life-affirming element. Sanin draws from the great traditions of the Ukrainian poetic schools of Dovzhenko, Donskoi (Dorogoi tsenoi / At Great Cost / Le Cheval qui pleure) and Paradjanov.

There is a compelling drive in the movie. The cinematographer Sergey Mikhalchuk fills the scope screen with vivid, vibrant life and stunning visionary landscapes, shot on location in the Carpathian Mountains.

The narrative is mainly linear, with non-linear elements of flashbacks and hallucinations. The camera movement is dynamic, and tranquil passages alternate with hectic montages of handheld camera and rapid edit. In action scenes, there is a trendy approach of ultra-rapid edit where it is impossible to tell who is doing what to whom.

Most importantly, Dovbush is a film about an indomitable fighting spirit: volia (bоля), That is something that Ukrainians and Finns have in common.