72'2017Estonia, Poland, Czech Republicdirector: Askold Kurovcinematography: Askold Kurovediting: Michał Leszczyłowski, Evgeny Zaozernykhproduction: Marx Film, Message Film
The show trial of a Ukrainian film director and the struggle for his release.
Kurov's film is a chronicle of a political show trial in Rostov-on-Don and testimony to the solidarity of many in the film industry—Agnieszka Holland, Ken Loach, Pedro Almodóvar and many others—with Oleg Sentsov. Accused on the basis of fabricated evidence, tortured during the investigation and sentenced to 20 years in prison, Sentsov carried out a hunger strike this year, drawing the world's attention to the fate of several dozen less-well-known Ukrainian citizens illegally imprisoned in Russia. He has become a symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners around the world, and the European Parliament honored him with this year's Sakharov Prize.
