The most important thing in the movie "Shchedryk" is an understanding of relations between Ukraine and Russia. The drama "Shchedryk" directed by Olesya Morgunets-Isaenko will be released on January 5.
This was stated by the movie director Olesya Morgunets-Isaenko at a press conference in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukrinform reports.
"The main thing that is in this film is the historical context of understanding what is happening now. Knowing the history and what happened in the past, we can shape our future," Morgunets-Isaenko believes.
She noted that when she read Ksenia Zastavska's script, she really liked the fact that there is a "Shchedryk" here. "Because this is a Christmas Story in the context of Ukraine and its history. It seems to me that there are no people who would not respond to this word and this song," the director said.
The film takes place in the wartime city of Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk). The film was shot in the scenery. For this purpose, three large pavilions were deployed in Kyiv. As a basis, they took ancient photographs showing the appearance of the then-city of Stanislav. Artist Vladislav Odudenko helped recreate streets and houses in the scenery.
"We had a great desire to shoot in Ivano-Frankivsk, but, unfortunately, due to the fact that there are a lot of signs, air conditioners, and windows installed, it was very difficult to find a street. We decided to shoot in the scenery," says Morgunets-Isaenko.
Filming of "Shchedryk" began in the fall of 2019. And the biggest problem in the project was snow. "We had a snowless winter. And this movie is about Christmas and snow. First, we managed to capture a few winter scenes. Then we waited for snow, and then the quarantine came. Therefore, in the cinema, you can see the winter, which was shot in the summer," the director said.
The "Shchedryk" movie has been shown so far at almost ten festivals. For the film's creators, the victory at the Nigerian women's Film Festival was a surprise. The Shchedryk film crew has received an invitation to show the film in Japan and at several Jewish Film Festivals.
At the same time, Warsaw refused to hold a Russian Film Festival after its screening.
"We had three screenings of Shchedryk and a world premiere in Warsaw at the Palace of Culture and Science. This is a Soviet-style building, which the Poles do not really like, but there are many events there. It was very symbolic because the Russian Film Festival was held there before that. After the screening of Shchedryk, cultural figures who organized this Russian festival came out and said that after this film, this building in Poland will never hold a festival of Russian cinema, but only Ukrainian. It was very pleasant," the director said.
According to her, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have already shown interest in leasing Shchedryk. One of the British universities has volunteered to purchase a film for its library as a historical film of Ukrainian cinema.
The estimate for the film "Shchedryk" is almost USD 2 million. Half of the amount was provided by the Icip, while the other part was provided by private investments of polish and Ukrainian companies.
The historical drama "Shchedryk" tells the story of three different families: Ukrainians, Poles and Jews, who were united by a common grief — the change from the repressive machine of the USSR to the punitive system of the Third Reich.