Ukrainian Sheriffs

85 ^min

Ukraine, Latvia, German

The citizen and the state Human rights

eng: for_whom

Institutions of the state penitentiary system of Ukraine Activists / NGOs Pupils Students Teachers Government officials Journalists

Ukrainian Sheriffs

Like a bird, the Ukrainian flag flies along perched on the car of two affable 'sheriffs' appointed by the mayor of a village in southern Ukraine. There's a sly bum whose gift is not to work. There's a guy who puts an anaconda in his woman's shed. The Euromaidan arrives, and draft-dodgers abound. The townsfolk are dipping in icy water and laughing, but are they divided in their loyalty? These sheriffs are taking you along for the ride...

Director

Roman Bondarchuk

Roman Bondarchuk graduated from the Kyiv state University of Theatre, Cinema and TV. His teacher was Yuriy Illenko, one of the founders of the school of Ukrainian Poetic Cinema. Roman has created a number of short films, documentaries and music videos, and authored a collection of stories and a contemporary art exhibition. He has won awards at national and international film festivals. As a documentary director he has collaborated with MDR, ZDF, Arte and other TV channels. His film debut "Ukrainian Sheriffs" won the jury prize at the IDFA-2015 and the Grand Prix Docs against Gravity (Gdynia). Also "Ukrainian Sheriffs" was represented Ukraine at Oscar Academy Awards in Best Foreign Language Film category. This decision was made by the National Oscar Committee. Today, Roman works on his fiction debut film "Volcano".

The discussion after the screening was based on the concept of the feeling of internal freedom, both by the film’s characters and by the viewers, and on the mission carried out by the sheriffs. Most of the audience agreed with the statement that the story shown in the film is more unique for the Ukrainian reality rather than traditional. Despite this, they liked this approach to reforming the law enforcement system, because it establishes connections within communities. There was an opinion that the idea for community representatives to approve people engaged in law enforcement can produce a better result for cooperation. The audience was also interested in the further fate of the film’s protagonists after the film came out.

Andriy Volyk,

moderator of the Docudays UA film club Democracy Defenders

Ukrainian Sheriffs

eng: scenario_fragment