Oleh Sentsov: Last News

Christopher Vourlias Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, whose feature debut “Pamfir” premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section, and director and former political prisoner Oleh Sentsov (“Rhino”) are among the Ukrainian filmmakers who say they’re “distraught” by the inclusion of a Russian film in the main competition at the Transilvania Film Festival.In a statement posted on Monday to the Facebook page for “Pamfir,” the filmmakers spoke out against the selection of Russian director Lado Kvataniya’s “The Execution” as one of 12 features competing for the Transilvania Trophy, criticizing the “illusion of cultural reconciliation” created by the festival’s decision and insisting that “art does not exist outside of politics.” The filmmakers noted that Kvataniya’s psychological thriller was produced with the support of the state-backed Russian Film Fund as well as Kinoprime, the $100 million film fund bankrolled by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the U.K.

France’s Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the 18 European feature film projects due to be presented in the 14th edition of its Les Arcs Coproduction Village, running December 10 to 13 against the backdrop of the French Alps.

Christopher Vourlias Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and producer Denis Ivanov are teaming up again after their last collaboration, the ‘90s-set crime drama “Rhino,” premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons sidebar last year.The new feature, “Shining World,” centers on a mother and her young son living in a small American town in the 1960s. Described by Ivanov as a “fairy tale” with echoes of Wes Anderson’s whimsical tone, it unspools in both the real world and in the imagination of its young protagonist after he learns an amusement park is being built nearby.“Shining World” was written by Sentsov while imprisoned on what his supporters insist were trumped-up charges after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA group of prominent Ukrainian filmmakers has called for the world to wake up to the threat posed to democracy following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Central European country on Thursday.An open letter was circulated Friday by filmmakers including: Oleh Sentsov, director of “Rhino”; Valentyn Vasyanovych, director of “Reflection” and “Atlantis”; Maryna Er Gorbach, director of “Klondike”; Anna Machukh, executive director of the Ukrainian Film Academy and OIFF; Natalia Vorozhbyt, director of ‘Bad Roads”; Iryna Tsilyk, director of “The Earth is Blue as an Orange”; and Nariman Aliev, director of “Homeward.”“Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. Now, more than ever, we need the help of the international community and anyone who understands that tomorrow war may be at your door.

Nick Holdsworth Ukrainian director Oleh Sentsov will mark the second anniversary of his release from Russian imprisonment this month as his new film, “Rhino,” plays in the closing slot in the Horizons section at the Venice Film Festival.Sentsov, who was seized by Russian security officials after the annexation of Ukraine’s Black Sea Crimea territory in 2014 and flown to Russia to be put on trial at a military court on terrorism charges he vigorously denied, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.An international campaign for his freedom galvanized film industry people from Hollywood A-listers to European directors, such as Wim Wenders, and organizations that included the European Film Academy and PEN.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWestEnd Films is launching worldwide sales on crime drama “Rhino” from Ukrainian director Oleh Sentsov (“Numbers,” “Gamer”), which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section.Produced by Denis Ivanov (“The Tribe,” “Donbas”) and Sentsov, the film centers on a young man nicknamed “Rhino,” who starts out as a petty thief before rising in the ranks of Ukraine’s criminal underworld in the 1990s. Rhino has only known power and cruelty, but with nothing left to lose, could he finally find a chance at redemption?The film stars newcomer Serhii Filimonov as Rhino, alongside Yevhen Grigoriev and Alina Zievakova.