Ukrainian cinema – documentary films – The Russian Woodpecker
15:00-16:20
The Russian Woodpecker- dir Chad Gracia, 2015, runtime: 80 min.
The protagonist of the “Woodpecker” is Fedor Alesandrovych, a Ukrainian artist (and the cinematographer), raised in Chernobyl and fascinated with the catastrophe that significantly influenced his life. His obsessive desire to find the real reasons of the Chernobyl catastrophe seems to be well grounded, especially considering that in the end it attracts the attention of the Ukrainian secret services. A giant, abandoned OTH still stands near the site of the Chernobyl plant and even though people at one time involved in this confidential project do not confirm Fedor’s suspicions, it is difficult to resist the idea that his version of the story is very probable. Balancing on the border between reality and fiction and skilfully blending archival records, impressions, interviews and elements of a reportage, Chad Gracia creates an excellent formal equivalent of the social atmosphere poisoned with the paranoias of the Soviet past.
When: 9th of July 2016, at 15:00
Where: Workshops of Culture, 5a Grodzka Street