''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' ( uk, Українські шерифи) is a 2015 Ukrainian

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by . 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 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.

Synopsis

Due to a lack of police presence in the Ukrainian village of ,

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Viktor Marunyak assigns the task of protecting the peace to two locals, Viktor Kryvoborodko, aged 50, and Volodymyr Rudkovsky, aged 44. Kryvoborodko and Rudkovsky's work combines the functions of police officers and social workers, as they are tasked with mediating disputes, but not with investigating criminal offenses. The beginning of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

(2014- ) changes their routine, however - village politics become divided, and the sheriffs are tasked with supporting the Ukrainian war-effort.

Production

''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' was filmed over four years, for a total of nearly 200 hours of footage. The first cut of the film was five hours in length and remained over two hours in length until its sixth cut.

Distribution

''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' began distribution throughout Europe in February 2016. The film's premiere on German television took place on 4 April 2016 on the Franco-German channel

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

. Distribution of the film in Ukraine began in July 2016 and then in the Baltics and Balkans in September.

Reception

Ukrainian film critic , writing for

The Day The Day may refer to: Film and television * ''The Day'' (1914 film), an Australian silent film * ''The Day'' (1960 film), a short film * ''The Day'' (2011 film), a Canadian film * ''The Day'' (2022 film), a Bangladeshi–Iran joint production ...

, praised ''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' and described Marunyak, Kryvoborodko, and Rudkovsky as role models for Ukraine, and compared the latter two to

American police officers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Neil Young, in ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', described ''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' as "an episodic, wryly amusing affair, displaying considerable interest in and sympathy with human foibles." Fionnuala Halligan, chief film critic at ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'', also praised the film and predicted that it would do well at international film festivals.

Accolades

The Ukrainian Association of Cinematographers (NSU) named ''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' the Best Ukrainian Non-Fiction Film of 2016 at the . It then added ''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' to a shortlist of submissions for the

category of the 89th Academy Awards with '' The Nest of the Turtledove'' and ''Song of Songs''. ''Ukrainian Sheriffs'' was eventually chosen as Ukraine's submission for the category. The film won the

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

's 2015 Special Jury Award. It also won the Grand Prix at the Docs Against Gravity Festival in Poland, and appeared at a dozen other international film festivals.

References

External links

* {{Ukrainian submissions for the Academy Award 2015 films 2015 documentary films Ukrainian documentary films Ukrainian-language films Russian-language Ukrainian films Documentary films about law enforcement Documentary films about politics War in Donbas films Documentary films about Ukraine