the bright path

the film has won the award for best production at the sehsüchte student film festival, potsdam, germany

synopsis: the young journalist Stanislav Aseyev reports for various ukrainian media outlets from his hometown of Donetsk, after part of the Donbas region fell under the control of russian-backed separatists in may 2014. in may 2017, Stanislav was abducted and spent most of his 962 days in captivity in a prison in Donetsk called “Isolation.” while there, Stanislav began writing about what was happening inside “Isolation.” the grounds of “Isolation” had been the region’s most important cultural platform until a few years earlier.

Stanislav was released at the end of 2019 in a prisoner exchange.

once free, he continued working on his book and resumed his running training. at the same time, Stanislav began adjusting to his new daily life in Kyiv. for the first time in nine months, he visited the I-ZONE cultural center in Kyiv — after separatists captured the “Isolation” territory in Donetsk in june 2014, the cultural platform relocated to Kyiv. Stanislav explored the cultural center to prepare for the presentation of his new book, comparing the buildings of the former factories in Donetsk and Kyiv, and his memories began to resurface once again…

musical concept: for this film i used a lonely piano voice that repeats ostinato again and again — like a person who can’t break free from confinement — while in the background electronic drones create a kafkaesque horror and the oppression of a totalitarian machine