PALINGENESION

SYNOPSIS

Palingenesion (part of the triptych The Days I would like to forget) focuses on the perception of death during the Russian-Ukrainian war as opposed to fighting for life. Through the personal stories of people, we go through the collective experience and acceptance of the common grief of Ukrainians. Living through the traumatic experience together, we observe the emergence of the thirst for life.

CONTACT

AMOUNT OF THE SUPPORT FOR PRODUCTION: 40 000 €

Date of the decision : January 27th, 2025

THE DIRECTORS

Alina Gorlova is a director of the film. Born and raised in Ukraine, she graduated from Karpenko- Kary Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film & Television. Eight years ago, she co-founded a production company, Tabor. Her documentary, No obvious signs, which she directed, won the MDR film award for best Eastern European film at DokLeipzig. Alina was a 2019 Berlinale Talents and Eurodoc 2020 participant. Her latest documentary, This Rain will never stop, won the award for Best First Appearance at IDFA, the Best Feature award at Festival dei Popoli, Beldocs, Go East, One World (Jeden svět), Ice Docs FF, Las Palmas FF.

Yelizaveta Smith is a director of the film. She graduated from the Kyiv National University of Theatre and Cinema as a film director. After the Ukrainian revolution, she started volunteer work with children in the city of Mykolaivka in the Donetsk area, which the war partly destroyed. Her experience there led to the documentary School Number 3, co-directed by George Genoux. The film premiered at Berlinale 2017, winning the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury, and received a Special Award at HumanDOC Festival in Warsaw. Her debut short film Solitude was selected to Odesa IFF and Raindance in 2019 and was nominated for Best Short Film at the Ukrainian Film Academy Awards 2020. In 2020, Yelizaveta was the author of the idea and co-author of the documentary multimedia project Time Suburbs. Yelizaveta was a participant at Berlinale Talents, TorinoFilmLabExtended, The Write Retreat, MidPoint Feature Launch and others. She is a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy and European Film Academy.

Simon Mozgovyi is a director and film editor of the film. He studied Cinema and Television Arts at the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture (B.A.). After graduating in 2013, he went on to study an advanced-level course in dramaturgy in Kyiv, where he began acting at the DAKH Theatre (2013-2018). Now, he works as a freelance filmmaker. Simon’s documentary film The Winter Garden’s Tale (2018) premiered at Ji.hlava IDFF, and then participated in DOK Leipzig, Full Frame, Docudays UA, and others. His filmography includes the documentaries Salt from Bonneville (2021), and Orpheus Is Standing On The Bank Of The Styx (short, 2022). Now he works on his directorial feature fiction debut Chrysanthemum Day (2023, in progress).