When the Trees Fall

When the Trees Fall is a 2018 Ukrainian film written and directed by Marysia Nikitiuk. It has been listed as among the best modern Ukrainian films.

When the Trees Fall
Directed byMarysia Nikitiuk
Written byMarysia Nikitiuk
CountryUkraine
LanguageUkrainian

Plot

Set in the small Ukrainian city of Lozova, the film centers on a five-year-old girl, Vitka, and her older cousin, Larysa, who is in love with a criminal.[1] The story of a five-year-old little rebellious girl Vitka with her teenage cousin Larysa and her boyfriend, the young criminal Scar unfolds in a Ukrainian provincial setting. Larysa finds herself at a crossroads after the death of her father. Yearning to be self-made, the village community ostracizes her for loving Scar. Larysa discovers her grandmother once sacrificed her love for a young gypsy abandoning him for traditional values and other people's opinions. Larysa's mother is too psychologically weak to support her daughter. Larysa and Scar plan to escape from a life of crime, misery and their relatives. But are they ready to pay the full price for freedom?

Cast
  • Anastasiya Pustovit as Larysa
  • Sofia Halaimova as Vitka
  • Maksym Samchyk as Scar

Production

The film was made after Nikitiuk won the Krzysztof Kieslowski Script Award for Best Film Script from Central and Eastern Europe at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2016. The prize was accompanied with a €10,000 production grant.[2] Her winning script would become When the Trees Fall.[2][3]

When the Trees Fall was filmed in Ukraine and Poland.[4]

Release

The premiere of When the Trees Fall was at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in 2018.[5]

Reception

When the Trees Fall won seven awards at the Berlin film festival, including best debut which came with 50,000€; the Panorama audience award; the "World of Cinema" award (4,000€); the Gainer Karov award (5,000€); and three awards from film critic associations.[5] The film was praised in The Hollywood Reporter as "bursting with audacity, flair and energetic promise."[6][7][8] The San Francisco Chronicle called it a "deliriously lyrical, sexy fable" and said "the final frames are breathtaking."[9] Polish film journal Kino praised Nikitiuk's "sensitivity, courage and fantasy."[10]

When the Trees Fall is frequently named as one of the best modern Ukrainian films.[11] It was listed as the fourth-best Ukrainian film of the 2010s by MovieWeb.[12][7] Vogue Ukraine listed it among "seven films to make you fall in love with modern Ukrainian cinema".[13] Viktoria Tihipko, president of the Odesa International Film Festival and the head of the board at the Ukrainian Film Academy, named it as one of the 30 "most iconic" films since Ukraine's independence.[14]

References
  1. Abenia, Enrique (10 December 2021). "ArteKino 2021: La sorprendente personalidad de Marysia Nikitiuk en la ucraniana 'When the Trees Fall'". Cinemanía (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  2. Antonenko, Alisa (19 May 2016). "Marysia Nikitiuk received a French award". The Day. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  3. "Marysia Nikitiuk: Today's Character is a Bad Man with a Kind Heart and an Incredible Sense of Guilt". Ukrayinska Pravda. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  4. ""Її протест - реакція людини, яка не хоче померти в цьому болоті" - кінокритик про фільм "Коли падають дерева"". Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). 2018-02-26. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  5. "На Берлінале показали фільм української режисерки". Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). 2018-02-21. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  6. Young, Neil (27 February 2018). "'When the Trees Fall' ('Koly padayut dereva'): Film Review | Berlin 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  7. Hrytsai, Yana (20 May 2022). "The Best Ukrainian Movies of the 2010s, Ranked". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  8. Lang, Jamie; Hopewell, John (18 May 2018). "Marysia Nikitiuk, Igor Savychenko Talk 'When the Trees Fall'". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  9. Lewis, David (13 September 2018). "Hidden gems of the Mill Valley Film Festival". Datebook | San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  10. Sajewicz, Anna. "TAM, GDZIE NAS NIE MA." Kino 53, no. 618 (12, 2018): 57-59.
  11. "10 найкращих нових стрічок вітчизняного кінематографа". Unian. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  12. Rosser, Michael (19 August 2022). "Sarajevo's CineLink reveals 2022 industry winners". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  13. "7 фільмів, щоб закохатися в сучасне українське кіно". Vogue UA. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  14. "30 знакових фільмів незалежної України: вибір Вікторії Тігіпко". Vogue UA. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
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