The prominent Ukrainian director Serhiy Loznitsa will receive the Golden Camera Award for his significant contribution to the field of cinema at the 30th edition of the International Film Festival Art Film. Art Film will also screen his latest film Invasion (2024), which had its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the Special Screenings section.
In 2001, Art Film began to award, in addition to actors (the Actor’s Mission Award), domestic and foreign film professionals of various professions for their significant contribution to the field of cinema. Last year, the award went to the legendary Hungarian director Béla Tarr. This year, up to three filmmakers will be awarded: the Slovak director Miloslav Luther, the Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu and the Ukrainian director, screenwriter, cameraman, producer and editor Serhiy Loznitsa.
It belongs to the top of contemporary art world cinema. Before he started making films, he defended his diploma at Kiyv Polytechnic University. After graduating from the university, he worked for several years in research labs focusing on cybernetics and AI. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he entered the prestigious VGIK film school in Moscow and devoted his life to cinema.
Already in 2002, he caught the attention of critics and audiences with his short documentary Portrait (2002), which premiered in the Cinéfondation section at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Static black-and-white images depict people living on the periphery of Russia. No commentary, no music, no narration. Just a handful of impoverished Russian peasants. Portrait signalled Loznitsa’s next journey, outlining with precise lines the stylistic and thematic qualities that would characterise his work in the years to come. In a few years he became a phenomenon of European documentary filmmaking and also experimented in the field of feature films. His documentaries are characterised by his work with archive films, from which he “reassembles” captivating narratives and explores the historical memory of the states of the former Soviet Union. Art Film also formed a part of the beginning of his career. In 1996, his documentary Today We Are Going to Build a House (1995, co-directed by Marat Magambetov) was selected for the Student Film Competition.
For his feature film Donbas (2018), in which he reconstructs real events captured by the mobile phones of ordinary people in the territory occupied by Russian separatists, he won the prestigious Un Certain Regard award for best director at the 2018 Cannes IFF.
The Cannes Film Festival on the Côte d’Azur has already become a permanent shining star for Loznitsa, and this year he presented there the world premiere of his latest film – Invasion (2024). Ten years after the release of the epic film Maidan(2014), he continues his chronicle of Ukraine, documenting the country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Filmed over the course of two years, the film captures civilian life across Ukraine and presents a unique and definitive account of Ukraine’s resilience in the face of the barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental canvas of a nation determined to defend its right to exist. Loznitsa stated: “I made this film with a deep pain in my heart and a great love for my country. This film was born out of compassion.”
In the Golden Camera section, festival audience will also have the opportunity to see his older film Mr. Landsbergis(2021), about a music professor and a charismatic leader of the Lithuanian independence movement. In 1990, he led his country out of the Soviet Union and forced Gorbachev to recognise its sovereignty. 30 years after the historic collapse of the USSR, Mr. Landsbergis shares the hidden story of his nation’s struggle for independence. Combining interviews and archival footage, Serhiy Loznitsa paints a fascinating portrait of a man who made history. It is an engaging and detailed history lesson on the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Film fans at the festival will have a unique opportunity to get to know Serhiy Loznitsa’s views (not only) on his work in his masterclass, which will take place on 26 June in Kulturpark.
The 30th edition of the International Film Festival Art Film will take place thanks to the support of:
Organiser: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.;
Co-organizers: City of Košice, K13 – Košice cultural centers, ART FILM FEST, n.o., LGM, s.r.o., FORLIVE;
The festival was financially supported by: Audiovisual Fund
The festival is co-financed by the Košice self-governing region from the Terra Incognita program;
Major advertising partner: Slovenská elektrizačná prenosová sústava, a.s.;
Main partners: Národná lotériová spoločnosť TIPOS, Východoslovenská energetika, EUK-Force, SPP, CODES Brand House;
Automotive partner: PORSCHE; Official hotel: Hotel Yasmin;
Main media partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia;
Advertising partners: construction company Adefex, Jadrová a vyraďovacia spoločnosť, a.s., Best Press, U. S. Steel Košice, Betpres, Transpetrol, SLOVAKIA TRAVEL, ANTIK Telecom, Cinema Úsmev, CORE LABS, Lucka spring water;
Technological partners: NOV, ZEBRA, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, BigON;
Official contractors: DKC Veritas, Eastern Slovak Museum in Košice, Krušovice BOHÉM, BARZZUZ, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Restaurant Contessa, Café Slávia; Official wine: Kubbo Select and Ostrožovič;
Media partners: JOJ PLAY, JOJ 24, Film Europe, Rádio KOŠICE, aktuality.sk, Forbes, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, See & Go, BigMedia, Košice City Guide, Film.sk, Visit Košice, diva.sk, zenskyweb.sk, MOJAkultúra;
Partners: Východoslovenská vodárenská spoločnosť, Nadácia CEF, Slovnaft, AUPARK Košice, Carmeuse Slovakia, JOJ Cinema, Hydrotour travel agency, Taper, YumEarth, KAIFER advokátska kancelária s.r.o., Deva, WITKOWITZ SLOVAKIA, Košice Airport, ECO Technologies, CPK Slovakia, Casa Trade – Casablanca cafe, DC MEDICAL, KPK Reklama, Kvitok, HAIR Factory Košice, Kvety Garomi, Air Taxi, Tesco Stores SR, a.s.;
Financial awards partners: CANON, Filmarina;
Catering partners: Ohnisko – Fire Dining & Brew Bar, Pub u kohúta, El Nacional, Maiko Sushi, Café de Paris, Tabačka Kulturfabrik; BISTRO Blanc, Andiamo GROUP, BENZE; Red Velvet Cake Bar; Tahiti, Café Veritas
