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| Bad Roads, Donbass, Reflection and The Earth Is Blue as an Orange on DVD Aug. 23 from Film Movement | ||||||
 On August 23, Film Movement brings four captivating, award-winning films to the home entertainment marketplace that deliver audiences behind the lines and into the lives of those affected by the ongoing war of Russian aggression which first started in 2014: BAD ROADS, a disturbing drama set against the backdrop of Donbass from first-time director Natalya Vorozhbit, based on her internationally-acclaimed play of the same name, which was Ukraine’s most recent Oscar entry for Best International Film; the 2019 Oscar Entry, DONBASS, a pitch-black absurdist dramedy from outspoken director Sergei Loznitsa, who also captured the Un Certain Regard Directing Award at Cannes; REFLECTION, Valentyn Vasyanovych’s powerful drama, a Venice Golden Lion nominee and THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE, a Sundance Award-winning documentary from Iryna Tsilyk. All four film will be available on DVD and all leading digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon and Vudu.BAD ROADS A man alleging to be a schoolmaster is accosted by the military at a checkpoint. Two teenagers wait for their soldier boyfriends in a dilapidated town square. A journalist is held captive and gets brutally assaulted. A young woman apologizes to an elderly couple for running over their chickens. Featuring four stories set against the backdrop of the Donbass roads, loomed by disorientation, paranoia, and terror, BAD ROADS, called “a startlingly grim panorama of life during wartime” (Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times), challenges the very notion of truth and delivers audiences to a bleak Ukraine they’ll not soon forget. DONBASS In the Donbass, a region of Eastern Ukraine, a hybrid war takes place, involving an open armed conflict alongside killings and robberies on a mass scale perpetrated by separatist gangs. In the Donbass, war is called peace, propaganda is uttered as truth and hatred is declared to be love. Life suffused with fear and suspicion; what is real and what is fake news? Through thirteen tension-ridden “chapters”, DONBASS takes audiences on an adventurous journey within the depths of the conflict zone and through life-threatening events. REFLECTION Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy joins the military to fight against the Russians in the Donbas region. After being captured by enemy soldiers, he witnesses the horrific torture and interrogation of his compatriots while being forced to monitor their vital signs. Following his release, Serhiy returns home to his family, still suffering from the trauma he experienced and hiding a devastating secret. A meticulously-composed examination of pain and redemption, Valentyn Vasyanovych’s “intellectually provocative and rewarding” film reveals the “reflection of a man, and a nation, still trapped in the middle of grief and guilt” (Variety); Noel Murray of The Los Angeles Times also calls REFLECTION calls “a poignant and poetic film,” and Dustin Chang of Screen Anarchy writes that the Ukrainian drama is “truly impactful and impressive.” THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE In THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE, director Iryna Tsilyk’s documentary follows single mother Anna and her four children as they document their lives under siege in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine. Eldest daughter Mira dreams of becoming a cinematographer and as bombs descend on neighboring homes, the family construct, act in, and edit stylized scenes of dangerous predicaments they’ve lived to tell. Mira’s re-creations ratchet up the drama, using local soldiers, tanks, and even her own grandmother to tell terrifying tales of survival Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, motivating them to shoot a film inspired by their own life during a time of war, and the creative process raises the question of what kind of power the magical world of cinema could have during times of disaster. How to picture war through fiction? For Anna and the children, transforming trauma into a work of art is the ultimate way to stay human. For more information, visit: filmmovement.com |
