On December 7, 2016 the Ukrainian Institute of America with the Ukrainian Film Club at Columbia University presented Ukraine’s Entry to the 89th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film Ukrainian sheriffs.
Q&A with the film director Roman Bondarchuk and producer Darya Averchenko followed the screening. This event was supported by the Consulate General of Ukraine in New York.
Ukraine selected Roman Bondarchuk’s documentary UKRAINIAN SHERIFFS to represent the nation in 2016 Academy Award Foreign Language Category. The film premiered at Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, where it won the jury special prize in the main competition.
About the film
Viktor and Volodya, two democratically chosen sheriffs, who try to keep the peace in their East-Ukrainian village near Crimea. Every day they do their utmost to settle neighborly disputes over lost ducks, stuck strollers, and other tragedies of daily life with compassion and a healthy sense of humor. On the eve of the country’s 70th anniversary of WWII’s victory, the village starts to feel the rumblings of the Russian invasion of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. Men are being drafted into the Ukrainian Army to defend their country. Viktor and Volodya find themselves dealing with the rising tension of the impending invasion.
Ukrainian Institute of America 