VISIONS DU RÉEL
Paleontology Lesson - World Premiere Announcement
Our most recent short film, Paleontology Lesson, will have its World Premiere at Visions du Réel Festival International de Cinéma in the Compétition Internationale Moyens et Courts Métrages.
FILMKRANT
Het verdriet en de kracht van Oekraïne
Onder de titel CinéDialoog presenteert de Balie in Amsterdam geregeld films met een gesprek of een debat na afloop. Op 22 februari komt filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa langs om te praten over zijn documentaire The Invasion, die over het dagelijks leven van Oekraïne in oorlogstijd gaat.
DE VOLKSKRANT / Pauline Kleijer
In het fraaie ooggetuigenverslag ‘The Invasion’ dringt de oorlog in Oekraïne zich overal op
Oorlog en verwoesting keren telkens weer terug in het snel uitdijende oeuvre van de Oekraïense filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa. Vaak duikt hij daarvoor de archieven in: Loznitsa geldt als een meester van de found footage-methode, waarbij hij bestaand beeldmateriaal terugvindt en herschikt.
HET PAROOL / Roosje van der Kamp
Filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa over ‘The Invasion’: ‘Oorlog is een mentale aandoening en een fysieke ziekte’
In The Invasion legt Sergei Loznitsa het dagelijkse leven in Oekraïne tijdens de oorlog vast. Het resulteert in een monumentale film over de oorlog, waarin de vijand helemaal niet zichtbaar is. Dat hoeft ook niet, zegt de Oekraïense regisseur: ‘De invasie heeft al in ons allemaal plaatsgevonden.’
TROUW
Review: 'The Invasion' is a film monument to tough Ukrainians
Loznitsa has built up a considerable oeuvre of films about Ukraine and the former Soviet region. In Babi Yar. Context he looked back at the mass murder of Jews in Kyiv during the Second World War. With The Natural History of Destruction he reflected on military violence against civilians, including German ones, during the same war.
PLATFROM RAAM / Otto Boele
Ingetogen huldebetoon aan Oekraïense onverzettelijkheid
In his latest documentary The Invasion , Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa focuses his lens on Ukrainians. On a groom in camouflage gear who might leave for the front right after saying 'I do', on a school class that continues its lesson in a bomb shelter without a fight. Otto Boele sees the resilience of people who 'make the best of it', but also wonders how relevant this image still is in the reality of 2025. Is the Ukrainian intransigence from the film now making way for defeatism?
CINEMAGAZINE / Henny Wouters
The Invasion (2024)
Geen genre zo tricky als de oorlogsfilm. Zijn er alleen maar gevechtsscènes, dan verwordt het al snel tot een oppervlakkige actiefilm. Laat je geen gevechtsscènes zien, dan ontbreekt de pijn en bloederigheid van een oorlog. Maak je een speelfilm? Kans is groot op een ongenuanceerde film over helden en schurken, daders en slachtoffers. Is het een documentaire? Dan mis je belangrijke momenten en gebeurtenissen die buiten het zicht van de camera afspelen. Baseer je zo’n film op een bestaande of voorbije oorlog? Objectiviteit is dan soms ver te zoeken.
Waarom nu deze oeverloze inleiding? Omdat het documentairemaker Sergei Loznitsa is gelukt om een documentaire over de Russische inval in Oekraïne te maken, die alle bovenstaande risico’s redelijk eenvoudig overwint.
"TWO PROSECUTORS", a new fiction project by Sergei Loznitsa, starring Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Anatoli Beliy and Vytautas Kaniusonis, is set during Stalin's Great Terror and follows a young prosecutor challenging a system of mass extermination.
"Тhe entire world is mortified by the horrendous crimes being committed by the Russian regime in Ukraine. However anyone familiar with the Soviet and post-Soviet history of Russia will see a recurring pattern, a vicious circle of violence. The time has come to look straight into the eyes of the Soviet monster. I'm convinced that we need to understand its nature in order to defeat it" - says Sergei Loznitsa, whose previous works, such as "The Trial" (Venice IFF, 2018) and "State Funeral" (Venice IFF 2019), have also addressed the nature of stalinism.
The film is based on a novel by Georgy Demidov. Loznitsa continues his collaboration with the Romanian DoP Oleg Mutu ("My joy", "In the fog", "A gentle creature", "Donbass") and the Dutch composer Christiaan Verbeek ("The natural history of destruction"). The film is produced by SBS Productions in partnership with ATOMS & VOID (The Netherlands), Studio Uljana Kim (Lithuania), White Picture (Latvia), Avanpost Media (Romania) and Looks Film (Germany).
FILM NEW EUROPE
Winners of 2025 Budapest International Documentary Film Festival
The Invasion by Sergei Loznitsa was awarded the Main Prize of the Everyday Heroes Section Competition at the Budapest International Documentary Film Festival!
PLATFROM RAAM / Otto Boele
Klinische film over een politiek beladen feestdag
Op 9 mei 2022, enkele maanden na de grootschalige Russische invasie van Oekraïne, viert Rusland traditiegetrouw de Dag van de Overwinning. In haar documentaire 09.05.22, mede geproduceerd door de bekende Oekraïense filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, vat de jonge Russisch-Amerikaanse regisseur Nicole Philmon (1997) de beklemmende sfeer van die emotioneel en politiek beladen dag in zwijgende, afstandelijke beelden.
TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL
Eastern Star Award 2025: Sergei Loznitsa
The Eastern Star Award is given every year to a great cinema personality who gave their contribution to build a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe.
This year #TSFF36 awards SERGEI LOZNITSA, cosmopolitan and voluntarily stateless director who has found in cinema his only passport and in art his identity.
Dutch premiere of 09.05.22 by Nicole Philmon on February 1st at Visum Mundi!
At 13:30 the Dutch premiere of the documentary 09.05.2022 by the young Russian-American director Nicole Philmon will take place in the Visum Mundi screen theater. Following the screening, documentary filmmaker Jessica Gorter will lead a discussion with Nicole Philmon and an expert on the creation of her work.
SABZIAN MAGAZINE / Сергей Лозница
State of Cinema
Прежде всего, я хотел бы напомнить вам о том, что уже десять лет в Европе идет война. Как известно, Россия напала на Украину сначала в гибридной форме, а спустя семь лет открыто, жестоко и безжалостно уничтожая города и деревни, гражданское население, экономику, уничтожая страну.
Таков контекст, в котором я живу последнее время, и это не может не влиять на мои мысли, действия, фильмы, на мое мироощущение
SABZIAN MAGAZINE / Sergei Loznitsa
State of Cinema
We must not restrict intellectual freedom, freedom of artistic ideas and freedom of expression. A ban on free speech, a lack of open discussion and an imposition of “taboos” on certain topics pose a danger to our very existence.
SABZIAN MAGAZINE / Evegny Gusyatinskiy
Vertigo of Time
Loznitsa films current events as if they already became a part of the long-distanced past, and the other way around. In his archival found footage works he excavates the past and its hidden elements like an archaeologist, placing them into the context of the present and even of the future, and reveals the indistinct links between them. Perhaps he even separates, detaches an event from a moment when it happened and looks at it from a distanced point of view of a phenomenologist.
SABZIAN MAGAZINE
Events of Images, Words and Sounds: The Films of Sergei Loznitsa
A collection of eleven texts, sixteen film pages, two events and one news item curated by Sabzian Magazine and published on the occasion of the State of Cinema 2024 at Bozar, Brussels.
Rome International Documentary Festival: Special screening of State Funeral and Sergei Loznitsa as member of the jury
We are happy to share that Sergei Loznitsa will be a member of the jury at the upcoming edition of RIDF. He will also teach a masterclass, Understanding the present. After the masterclass there will be a special screening of our film State Funeral.
BOZAR
"The most important thing in contemporary cinema is what it is lacking: urgency."
The urgency of the contemporary world has made his cinema more direct and anchored in an era marked by brutality. Loznitsa does not negotiate with violence; he confronts it lucidly. In December, the Ukrainian filmmaker will be coming to Bozar to talk about this emergency. Here's a sneak preview of what promises to be an exciting encounter.
It's a wrap!
Principal photography of Two Prosecutors was completed the past 25th of October!
The film is now in post-production.
IDFA
Dutch premiere of The Invasion at IDFA 2024
The Invasion premieres in the Netherlands at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on November 15th!
The film will be released in the Netherlands in February 2025.
BBC NEWS / Interview by Tom Brook
'The Invasion': Ukrainian Life Goes On, in Sergei Loznitsa Documentary
In 'The Invasion', director Sergei Loznitsa shows a series of vignettes of Ukranian life, including weddings, baptisms and funerals. He doesn't shy away from the aftermath of bombing and battle, but shows how the poignant rhythms of life continue. The film is being shown at major world film festivals before going into cinemas. Tom Brook met the director for Talking Movies.
DEADLINE / Melanie Goodfellow
Jerusalem Film Festival: ‘The Story of Souleymane’, ‘Santosh’ & ‘Eid’ Win Top Prizes
Boris Lojkine’s drama The Story Of Souleymane has won Best International Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
VARIETY / Christopher Vourlias
‘The Invasion’ Director Sergei Loznitsa Talks Stakes of ‘War Between Russia and the Civilized World’ (EXCLUSIVE)
From the movie’s powerful opening sequence, which follows a funeral procession for four soldiers killed in battle, Loznitsa reminds us that the war continues to extract a devastating cost from its victims. And he also reminds us that his countrymen will continue to fight for their freedom, whether or not the world is watching.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences /PRESS
Sergei Loznitsa has been invited to join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences!
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 487 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures.
SCREEN RANT / Rebecca Sargeant
10 Most Exciting Movies Coming Out
Of Cannes 2024
The Invasion is intricately observant and throws audiences into the depths of the war in Ukraine while jumping back and forth to those still pushing through and attempting to have a life of some normality.
SLATE / Jean-Michel Frodon
Cannes 2024, jour 6: «Les Damnés», «L'Invasion», «Ground Zero», «An Unfinished Film»: chroniques de guerre
Avec son nouveau documentaire, le cinéaste ukrainien entreprend un travail d'une audace inédite.
CAIMÁN EDICIONES / Ángel Quintana
The Invasion (Sergei Loznitsa). Cannes 2024 – Sesiones especiales
A diferencia de otras películas de Loznitsa –incluida Donbass– en las que su mirada reflejaba un claro pesimismo frente a la condición humana, The Invasion es, paradójicamente, su película más luminosa, pero también la más dolorosa.
IL MANIFESTO / Cristina Piccino
‘’Loznitsa: ‘’Il mio film sull’Ucraina è un avvertimento per l’Europa’'
Intervista con il regista, che a Cannes ha presentato "The Invasion", documentazione dell'impatto della guerra sulla vita quotidiana degli ucraini.
VARIETY / Leo Barraclough
Sergei Loznitsa’s ‘The Invasion’ Picked Up for France Following Cannes Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)
Atoms & Void, the Netherlands-based production and sales company run by Sergei Loznitsa and Maria Choustova, has closed a French sale on Loznitsa’s most recent feature documentary “The Invasion,” which premiered on Thursday as a Special Screening in Cannes. Potemkine Films has taken all rights for France, while the film’s French co-producer ARTE France maintains its exclusive TV/VOD window.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER / Leslie Felperin
Sergei Loznitsa’s Doc About Ukrainian Life During Wartime Is Quietly Devastating
The footage observes ordinary citizens and soldiers and folks who are a bit of both trying to get on with things in the few years since Russia crossed the border.
Cannes 2024 : avec « L’Invasion », Sergei Loznitsa filme l’Ukraine en larmes et en armes
Constitué de vignettes collectées dans tout le pays, le nouveau documentaire du réalisateur ukrainien procède d’une somme de vues qui témoignent, au quotidien, de ce que la guerre fait aux hommes.
LE MONDE / Jaques Mandelbaum
FILMKRANT/ Hugo Emmerzael
Strakke composities uit conflictgebied
Filmkrant doet verslag van het 77e filmfestival van Cannes, waar een nieuwe documentaire van Sergei Loznitsa Oekraïne in oorlogstijd vastlegt. “Het is triest dat de geschiedenis zich altijd weer herhaalt.”
Sergei Loznitsa, Radu Jude, Maria Choustova and More European Artists Pen Letter Supporting Israeli Film Community’s Campaign to Release Hostages (EXCLUSIVE)
These names penned a heartfelt letter addressing the resurgence of antisemitism across Europe and the significant part that European artists must play in raising the alarm.
VARIETY/ Elsa Kelslassy
VOXEUROP/ Sophia Leshchymenko
Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa: ‘Don’t boycott Russian culture’
In his acceptance speech for the France Culture prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Ukrainian, Belarussian and Russian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa says the Russian language is part of Ukraine’s identity and banning it would only add to the destruction and disgrace wrought by the Kremlin and its war.