Golden Dzyga 2020: Best Ukrainian Movies Online
How far will you go to catch your bluebird of happiness? Will this frantic chase earn you a ticket to the Promised Land or lead you to an ignominious dead end?
Vadym Rott, a 25-year-old Kyiv-based freelance sound engineer, charges in without a second thought. First, his career is at a standstill. Second, he has to pay off a home mortgage. Third, he wants to move abroad. He will win the jackpot if he fulfils an odd brief coming from James Tkachuk, a Ukrainian-born Canadian businessman.
Tkachuk believes that sounds made by Ukrainian animals are desperate and mournful; they evoke a sense of widespread hopelessness. It is exactly what he needs for his new video game titled Noah’s Ark. Above all, he raves about a mythical duck that sings once a year and inhabits the solitudes of nowhere — an access-restricted area along the Ukraine-Romania border.
Rott hits the road heading west towards Uzhhorod, his hometown in Zakarpattya. He is picked up by his mom who works as a local taxi driver. Together, they embark on an exciting journey that uncovers a complex parent-child relationship and today’s realities. While Vadym runs after pigs, sheep, goats, cows, and fowl to record their voices, his mom, a single, unhappy woman, spends the whole time finding fault with her son and bossing him around. Will the chap be able to break free and start his life anew?
A sad comedy, @Мої думки тихі / My Thoughts Are Silent (is.gd/uEnRDm) does not provide answers but raises questions. Ukrainian @Antonio Lukić’s debut film already gained recognition at @Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and @Odesa Film Festival. Now, it has secured the 2020 Golden Dzyga National Movie Award as the Opening of the Year.
All winners will be revealed during the online award ceremony scheduled for 3 May at 19.00 (Kyiv time) (is.gd/w3T9Ht). The other contenders include @Додому / EVGE (Homeward), @Захар Беркут (Zakhar Berkut), @Гуцулка Ксеня (Hutsulka Ksenya) and @Volcano / Вулкан.
Enjoy watching Ukraine’s top movies on takflix.com/films and oll.tv/uk/movies-and-series.
