''Donbass'' is a 2018 internationally co-produced
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
war film directed by
Sergei Loznitsa
Sergei Vladimirovich Loznitsa ( be, Сяргей Уладзіміравіч Лазніца, russian: Сергей Владимирович Лозница, uk, Сергій Володимирович Лозниця; born 5 September 1964) is a Uk ...
. It was selected as the opening film in the ''
Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films w ...
'' section at the
2018 Cannes Film Festival
The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film ''Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or.
Asghar Farhadi's psycho ...
.
At Cannes, Loznitsa won the ''Un Certain Regard'' award for Best Director, as well as the Silver Pyramid at the 40th
Cairo International Film Festival
The Cairo International Film Festival ( ar, مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي) is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year sin ...
. It was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
91st Academy Awards
The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, A ...
, but it was not nominated.
It was filmed in
Kryvyi Rih
Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. Kr ...
, 300 km west of
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
. At the
49th International Film Festival of India
The 49th International Film Festival of India was a film festival held from 20 to 28 November 2018 in Goa. In the 49th event new sections such as "Sketch on Screen (Animation Film Package)", "A Retrospective of Masters" are inculcated. 212 fil ...
it received the Main Prize -
Golden Peacock for Best Feature Film.
Plot
The film's thirteen segments explore
the mid-2010s conflict between
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and the Russian-supported
Donetsk People's Republic
The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a Territorial ...
in the
Donbas
The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
region of Ukraine.
Reception
Critical response
''Donbass'' has an approval rating of 88℅ on
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 58 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus states, “Brutally powerful and brilliantly filmed, ''Donbass'' illustrates man's inhumanity with visceral effectiveness.” It also has a score of 78 out of 100 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, based on 17 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.
Awards
Loznitsa won the ''
Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films w ...
'' award for Best Director at the
2018 Cannes Film Festival
The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film ''Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or.
Asghar Farhadi's psycho ...
.
He also won the Silver Pyramid, also known as the Special Jury Prize for Best Director, at the 40th
Cairo International Film Festival
The Cairo International Film Festival ( ar, مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي) is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year sin ...
, tied with Thai director Phuttiphong Aroonpheng for ''
Manta Ray
Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular Pectoral fin#AnchPect ...
''.
It won
Golden Peacock (Best Film) at the
49th International Film Festival of India
The 49th International Film Festival of India was a film festival held from 20 to 28 November 2018 in Goa. In the 49th event new sections such as "Sketch on Screen (Animation Film Package)", "A Retrospective of Masters" are inculcated. 212 fil ...
.
See also
*
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Donbass
2018 films
2018 black comedy films
Ukrainian comedy-drama films
Ukrainian-language films
Films directed by Sergei Loznitsa
Donbas culture
War in Donbas films