The Ukrainian documentary film “Traces”, which tells the stories of women who survived sexual violence by Russian soldiers in Kherson, the Donbas and the Kyiv regions, won in the Panorama Dokumente program at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale.
This was reported by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.
According to the audience vote, the victory was supported by more than 26 thousand people. This is Ukraine’s first award in this category.
The film by directors Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk brought together six accounts of Ukrainian women who, since 2014, became victims of sexual violence by Russian soldiers in Kherson, as well as in the Donbas and the Kyiv regions. The film participated in the Panorama Dokumente program alongside 11 other international projects.
“Ukrainian films have a long history of participation in the Panorama, but this award became the first victory — and it is especially valuable that it is an audience award, determined by the votes of viewers. We are sincerely happy, because it is another proof that Ukrainian cinema finds a deep resonance with international audiences, and confirms the importance of systematic support for auteur, in particular documentary, cinema in Ukraine,” — say the film’s producers Olga Bregman and Natalia Libet.
Recall that on February 15 in Batumi (Georgia) the Public Broadcaster’s documentary project “Kherson. Breathe Slowly.”