The director will be part of the jury in the International Competition
for the first and second feature films of the festival
Oleg Sentsov will personally present in Sofia his film "Rhino", which began its journey from the international co-production market Sofia Meetings in 2012 and won the award for best film project - the director is a discovery of Sofia Meetings. Realized as a joint production between Ukraine, Poland and Germany, "Rhino" also participated in the Works in Progress of Sofia Meetings, and in the fall of 2021 was its world premiere in the competition program "Horizons" at the Venice Film Festival.
"Rhino" is a story about a criminal seeking redemption; a story that presents the ugly side of life in post-Soviet Ukraine. The main role is played by the young star Sergei Filomonov. His character, nicknamed the "rhino", is a criminal in Ukraine in the 1990s, involved in the mafia underworld. His love affair with Marina (played by Alina Zevakova) is initially happy, but with the deepening of his relationship with the underworld, his life changes radically and irreversibly.
"Rhinoceros is very reminiscent of a classic mafia film, but the specific setting sets it apart, earning it a place in the post-Soviet crime drama genre," the online edition of Deadline says about Sentsov’s film.
The project "Rhino" is marked by the real life story of director Oleg Sentsov, who at the very beginning of the preparation of the film (2014) was arrested by Russian security services on charges of terrorist acts because of his position on the annexation of Crimea by Russia and his support of the Euromaidan in Kiev. He was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Thanks to the international film community, which has called for Sentsov's defense and release, he has been released on a prisoner exchange after five and a half years of effective sentencing, a hunger strike and a serious ferment in the world of cinema against Russia's undisputed stance. government on the case. After a long physical recovery, Sentsov resumed his work on Rhino and managed to complete it.
The director was born in 1976 in Simferopol. He graduated from the National University of Economics "Hetman" in Kiev in 1998 and went to Moscow, where he attended courses in screenwriting and film directing. Returning to his hometown, he opened a computer club - an idea that became his first successful business project. It is the life of gamers that is the basis of his feature debut "Gamer" (2011) - a story about the life of a teenager addicted to computer games. "Gamer" received positive reviews from film critics, and premiered at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
10 years after his participation in Sofia Meetings, Oleg Sentsov returned to Sofia to present his film "Rhino" and to be a member of the international jury of the 26th Sofia Film Festival.
WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU at #KINO!
# 26SofiaIFF
for the first and second feature films of the festival
Oleg Sentsov will personally present in Sofia his film "Rhino", which began its journey from the international co-production market Sofia Meetings in 2012 and won the award for best film project - the director is a discovery of Sofia Meetings. Realized as a joint production between Ukraine, Poland and Germany, "Rhino" also participated in the Works in Progress of Sofia Meetings, and in the fall of 2021 was its world premiere in the competition program "Horizons" at the Venice Film Festival.
"Rhino" is a story about a criminal seeking redemption; a story that presents the ugly side of life in post-Soviet Ukraine. The main role is played by the young star Sergei Filomonov. His character, nicknamed the "rhino", is a criminal in Ukraine in the 1990s, involved in the mafia underworld. His love affair with Marina (played by Alina Zevakova) is initially happy, but with the deepening of his relationship with the underworld, his life changes radically and irreversibly.
"Rhinoceros is very reminiscent of a classic mafia film, but the specific setting sets it apart, earning it a place in the post-Soviet crime drama genre," the online edition of Deadline says about Sentsov’s film.
The project "Rhino" is marked by the real life story of director Oleg Sentsov, who at the very beginning of the preparation of the film (2014) was arrested by Russian security services on charges of terrorist acts because of his position on the annexation of Crimea by Russia and his support of the Euromaidan in Kiev. He was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Thanks to the international film community, which has called for Sentsov's defense and release, he has been released on a prisoner exchange after five and a half years of effective sentencing, a hunger strike and a serious ferment in the world of cinema against Russia's undisputed stance. government on the case. After a long physical recovery, Sentsov resumed his work on Rhino and managed to complete it.
The director was born in 1976 in Simferopol. He graduated from the National University of Economics "Hetman" in Kiev in 1998 and went to Moscow, where he attended courses in screenwriting and film directing. Returning to his hometown, he opened a computer club - an idea that became his first successful business project. It is the life of gamers that is the basis of his feature debut "Gamer" (2011) - a story about the life of a teenager addicted to computer games. "Gamer" received positive reviews from film critics, and premiered at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
10 years after his participation in Sofia Meetings, Oleg Sentsov returned to Sofia to present his film "Rhino" and to be a member of the international jury of the 26th Sofia Film Festival.
WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU at #KINO!
# 26SofiaIFF