''The Living Fire'' ( uk, Жива ватра) is a Ukrainian documentary film directed by

Ostap Kostyuk Ostap ( uk, Остап) is a Ukrainian male given name. Its Russian counterpart is Evstafiy. It derives from the Greek name Eustathius. People with this name include: *Ostap Bender, a fictional character from the Russian novel ''The Twelve Chai ...

. The film tells about the life of shepherds in the Ukrainian

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, and the fate of traditional skills in the context of the modern world. The cinema version of the film (77 minutes of running time) was first released in Ukrainian film distribution on September 29, 2016. The TV version of the film (52 minutes of running time) was first released on UA:First on November 19, 2016. The release of the TV version was preceded by a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

fundraiser on the Ukrainian platform Spilnokosht, which was successfully completed and the creators of the film managed to raise more than ₴70 thousand. In 2017, the film won 2 nominations for the Ukrainian National Film Award, the "

Golden Dzyga The "Golden Dzyga" ( uk, Золота дзиґа) is a Ukrainian national film award given for professional achievements in the development of Ukrainian cinema. Founded in 2017 by the Ukrainian Film Academy, the first awards ceremony took place ...

About the film

This is a film about life, about tradition, about the conflict of two worlds - modern and ancient, about the nature of mountains, about human destiny, about love, about family, about a place under the sun, about a living fire, and about sheep - all in a little boy's head, who might become a shepherd . . .

Plot

Three men of different generations live in the Ukrainian Carpathians: 82-year-old Ivan spends his old age alone, having recently buried his wife, and he himself is preparing for a funeral. At the same time, 10-year-old Ivanko starts life from scratch at a boarding school in the district center, and 39-year-old Vasily manages an animal farm and feeds young sheep. But spring will come and all three will climb the mountains following the shepherd's vocation, which is increasingly difficult to continue in today's world.

Awards and nominations

Victories 2015 - Special Jury Award of the Canadian International Documentary Film Festival Hot Docs (

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada) 2015 - Award for the best documentary film of the 18th International Film Festival for Children and Youth Olympia (Greece) 2016 - Salem Film Fest Award (USA) Nominations and diplomas 2015 - Special diploma of the jury of the

Odesa International Film Festival The Odesa International Film Festival ( uk, Оде́ський міжнаро́дний кінофестива́ль) is an annual film festival held in the middle of July in Odesa. Since 2016 the festival program has consisted of three parts: ...

(

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

, Ukraine) 2015 - Diploma of the International Film Festival "November e (

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, Belarus). 2015 - Selected to participate in the competition program of the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary (

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...

, Czech Republic). 2015 - Selected to participate in the competition program of the "Chicago International Film Festival" in the nomination "Gold Hugo" (Best International Documentary) (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, USA). 2015 - Selected to participate in the competition program of the Reykjavik International Film Festival ( Reykjavik, Iceland). 2015 - Selected to participate in the competition program of the "Zurich International Film Festival" in the nomination "Golden Eye" (Best International Documentary) ( Zurich, Switzerland). 2016 - Selected to participate in the competition program of the Pelicam International Film Festival (

Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. Names Th ...

, Romania).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Living Fire Ukrainian documentary films 2015 films Carpathian Foothills

About the film

Plot

Awards and nominations

See also

References