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AWARDS Ukraine

Donbass and The Wild Fields triumph at the Ukrainian National Film Awards

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- Sergei Loznitsa’s film snagged the major Golden Dzigas, while Yaroslav Lodygin’s debut scooped the most awards in total at the third Ukrainian ceremony

Donbass and The Wild Fields triumph at the Ukrainian National Film Awards
Some of the winners of the 2019 Ukrainian National Film Awards

The Ukrainian Film Academy handed out its third National Film Awards at a gala ceremony on 19 April. The nominated films and the actual winners of the Golden Dzigas were selected by the members of the academy, comprising 355 professionals, with 35% of them being women.

The multi-award-winning, well-travelled grotesque contemporary war drama Donbass [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile
]
by Sergei Loznitsa was the big winner at the awards ceremony, as it took home the three main Golden Dziga Awards – namely, Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

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The other big winner of the ceremony was Yaroslav Lodygin, whose Tallinn Black Nights-premiered absurdist comedy The Wild Fields [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which also deals with the Donbass region, snagged five Golden Dzigas, the biggest haul of any of the nominated films. The adaptation of Serhiy Zhadan’s novel received Best Actor for Oleg Moskalenko, Best Supporting Actor for Vladimir Yamnenko and Best Cinematography for Sergei Mikhalchuk as well as the technical awards for Best Sound and Best Production Design.

Another Tallinn Black Nights film, the parabolic fantasy-comedy The Gateway [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, directed by Volodymyr Tykhyy, which is set in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and is an adaptation of the stage play of the same name, was the winner of both actress gongs – Irma Vitovska for Best Actress and Vitalina Bibliv for Best Supporting Actress – as well as the Best Music and Best Make-up trophies.

Finally, two new awards were introduced this year, the Best Song Award, which was bestowed upon the female choir comprising Irina DanilenkoGalina Goncharenko and Susanna Karpenko, for Benedikt Erlingsson’s Woman at War, and the Best Editor Award, which went to Ivan Bannikov for his work on both Call Sign Banderas by Zaza Buadze and When the Trees Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marysia Nikitiuk
film profile
]
 by Marysia Nikitiuk.

It should be noted that the landmark tenth edition of the Odesa International Film Festival, which originally established the Ukrainian Film Academy and supported the National Film Awards, will be held from 12-20 July 2019 in Odesa, Ukraine.

Here is the complete list of winners at the third Ukrainian National Film Awards:

Best Film
Donbass [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile
]
– Sergei Loznitsa (Germany/France/Ukraine/Netherlands/Romania)

Best Director (Yuri Illienko Prize)
Sergei Loznitsa – Donbass

Best Actress
Irma Vitovska – The Gateway [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]

Best Actor
Oleg Moskalenko – The Wild Fields [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Ukraine/Switzerland)

Best Supporting Actress
Vitalina Bibliv – The Gateway

Best Supporting Actor
Vladimir Yamnenko – The Wild Fields

Best Screenplay
Sergei Loznitsa – Donbass

Best Cinematography
Sergei Mikhalchuk – The Wild Fields

Best Production Design
Vlad Odudenko – The Wild Fields

Best Editing
Ivan Bannikov – Call Sign Banderas and When the Trees Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marysia Nikitiuk
film profile
]
 (Ukraine/Poland/North Macedonia)

Best Music
Anton Baibakov – The Gateway

Best Song
Irina Danilenko, Galina Goncharenko, Susanna Karpenko – Woman at War (Iceland/France/Ukraine)

Best Sound Design
Serhiy Stepanskyi – The Wild Fields and DZIDZIO First Time

Best Make-up
Katerina Strukova – The Gateway

Best Costume Design
Maria Kero – Noble Tramps

Best Documentary
Myth – Leonid Kanter, Ivan Yasniy

Best Animated Film
Mimesis – Freud M Weiser

Best Short Film
Mia Donna – Pavlo Ostrikov

Golden Dziga for Contribution to Ukrainian Cinema 
Yuriy Garmash (cinematographer)

Audience Choice
DZIDZIO First Time – Taras Dron, Mykhailo Khoma

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