Underplayed Gems

La Palisiada (2023)

La Palisiada poster
Original title
Ля Палісіада
Directed by
Philip Sotnychenko
Genre
drama
Country
Ukraine
Runtime
1h 40m
Rated
15
Rating
5.8 of 10 from 10 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

In 1990s Ukraine, a detective investigates a murder case that forces him to confront personal and political tensions. The film follows his struggle to find justice in a society on the edge of change.

grittyatmosphericdeliberatebroodingretrostylizedtensemelancholic

What happens

La Palisiada (Ukrainian: «Ля Палісіада», romanized: Lia Palisiada) is a 2023 Ukrainian crime drama neo-noir film written, edited and directed by Philip Sotnychenko in his directorial debut. It premiered worldwide on 29 January 2023 at the 52nd International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it received an award from FIPRESCI. It later premiered in Ukraine on 12 October 2023, during the "Kyiv Critics Week". In December 2023, it was the winner of the 41st Torino Film Festival. Recognized as the best film at the Kino festival in Vilnius and won the prize for best direction at the Sarajevo film festival. Awarded the nomination "Best feature-length fiction film" – the National Prize of Film Critics "Kinokolo." It received two awards at the eighth festival of Ukrainian cinema in Poland (Ukraina! 8. Festiwal Filmowy) – best film and best cinematographer. The film was awarded for cinematography and recognized as the best feature film of the festival. Nominated in 14 categories for the "Golden Dzyga" award. Released in Ukraine on 11 January 2024. The film was also shown in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section of 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival (2023). The idea of the film appeared after the director of the film found out that in 1996, Ukraine was in second place in the world after China in terms of the number of death sentences (89). From 1991 to 1996, more than 600 people were executed. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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