Tania Khodakivska film, co-directed with Olexander Stekolenko.
On April 30th Directors Guild of Ukraine and New York film club Kino-Vino are organizing the Fundraising Film Screening of Ukrainian documentary ‘Enticing, Sugary, Boundless or Songs and Dances about Death.’ The event will take place in New York at Tribeca Film Center / Tribeca Screening room and will be presented and followed by a Q & A with the film’s director Tania Khodakivska.
All proceeds will be donated to Ukrainian filmmakers and to the effort of filming and archiving the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.
For people outside the USA and New York there is an opportunity to support Ukrainian filmmakers by donations. Please, follow the link to buy a ticket or donate.
Tania Khodakivska is a member of the Directors Guild of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian and the European Film Academies. Among her awards are Gold Plaque at Chicago International Film Festival, Film Academy Award of Ukraine, Silver Screen at US International Film and Video Festival, Special Jury Award at WorldFestHouston, and Globe Gold at World Media Festival in Hamburg.
‘Enticing, Sugary, Boundless or Songs and Dances about Death,’ the Ukrainian poetic documentary released in 2017, creates links between the beauty of life and the inevitability of death. The film premiered in 2017 at Jihlava Film Festival, was nominated at the Ukrainian Film Academy awards in 2018 and received more than 10 different awards around the world over the next few years. The Ukrainian premier took place in Kyiv at Docudays Human Right Film Festival, where the film received two special mentions for “Offering blissful cinematic moments and unexpected constellations (of fingers & textiles, gestures & cultural landscapes). This universal film about death (and beyond) impressed us with its sheer handcrafted mastery. And it touched us – by its calm lust for life.’ add “For being a daring experiment without borders and a journey without limits.” The film is directed by Tania Khodakivska and co-directed by Olexander Stekolenko.
Directors Statement. Tania Khodakivska: “Before the Ukrainian premiere, back in 2017, I called my mother. She asked, ‘But why Enticing, Sugary, Boundless?’ I asked, ‘What is your guess?’ She replied, ‘Because that’s how life is?’ My mother is now in Ukraine, 150 km from Kyiv and 162 km from Bucha. When she texts me. ‘I will probably never see you again,’ she still thinks that life is Enticing. When she tells me, “Whenever an enemy comes to my place, I am going to meet them with a Ukrainian flag, spitting in their faces,” she still believes that life is Sugary. And while I am crying because one of the filmmakers I knew died, filming in Mariupol, my mother still believes in the victory of Ukraine because death is not Boundless, but life is. I hope the screening of this film will remind all of us about impermanence and the importance of making the right choices right now while we can. I hope we raise enough money for those brave Ukrainian filmmakers, who are in the battlefields now, who decided to stay and document this cruel Russian war against Ukraine, and for those Ukranian filmmakers who need financial support now. I do believe that the fight for Ukraine is the fight for the world’s future. And we better win this fight together. Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the Heroes”.
