Photophobia

synopsis

In the spring of 2022, Kharkiv metro is transformed into an experimental laboratory. Everything is reversed here – life and safety below, death and destruction above. In the middle of it all, children grow up like flowers in a greenhouse. Without fresh air, without day and night, the world has frozen into a surreal landscape that is more like a movie or a dream. This lyrical portrait of life in the midst of war, included as a special screening at the Venice Film Festival, captures a society in limbo. On the surface, the apocalypse rages, the world we know turns into a memory, a past, a mirage, a waiting room without time, and in its place there is nothing.

“That was why we decided to find something most closely approaching ‘ordinary life’ and preserve it to the best of our abilities: to find a moment of genuine humanity at a time of devastating horror.”
Quote from Giornate degli Autori. 

The second screening is simultaneously translated into English.

biography

Ivan Ostrochovský (1975), Slovak director, screenwriter and producer, graduated from the Department of Audiovisual Studies and Documentary Directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. He made his documentary debut Velvet Terrorists (IDFF Ji.hlava 2013) together with his classmate Pavel Pekarčík. His feature films Goat and Servants competed at the Berlinale.

Pavol Pekarčík (1972), Slovak director and screenwriter, studied documentary directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. He collaborated with Ivan Ostrochovský on the short films Minor Evil, The Wind and Karakorum before making their debut together (IDFF Ji.hlava 2013). His independent film Silent Days competed in the Eastern Promises section at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

more about film

director:	Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík
producer:	Ivan Ostrochovský, Katarína Tomková, Albert Malinovský, Tomáš Michálek, Kristýna Michálek Květová
script:	Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík, Marek Leščák
photography:	Ivan ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík
editing:	Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík, Martin Piga
music:	Roman Kurhan, Michal Novinski
sound:	Jakub Jurásek, Dušan Kozák
sound design:	Jakub Jurásek
co-producer:	Denis Ivanov, Jakub Mahler, Helena Osvaldová, Pavol Pekarčík
executive producer:	Martina Netíková, Vanessa Biermannová

contact

Cinémotif Films / Tomáš Michálek
tomas@cinemotiffilms.cz