The New Waves

WHEN THE TREES FALL

Marysia Nikitiuk | Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia | 2018 | 87 min.
V.O. en Ukrainian subtitle in Spanish and English

Moonlight, vapourous heat. Beneath the unreal light, Larysa and Scar give way to their savage desire. The eyes of Vitka, Larysa’s six year old cousin, shroud the forest and the water with a halo of mystery. A passionate, daring, magnetic scene that leads on to a film filled with strong emotions. Larysa’s desperate, carnal love for Scar, a handsome criminal, soon comes up against her family’s violent opposition. Vitka escapes through her fantasies from her tempestuous surroundings. Between the idyllic Ukrainian countryside and the severe Soviet era blocks, a story that brings into play melodrama, thriller, passion, violence and magic realism in a courageous, striking debut.

Direction: Marysia Nikitiuk
Script: Marysia Nikitiuk
Cinematography: Michal Englert, Mateusz Wichlacz
Editing: Blaze Dulev, Milenia Fiedler, Ivan Bannikov Music: Mykyta Moiseiev
Sound: Oleksandr Shatkivskyi
Cast: Sonya Halaimova, Anastasiia Pustovit, Maksym Samchik, Mariia Svizhynska, Alla Samoylenko
Production: Igor Savychenko, Roman Klympush, Volodymyr Filippov, Serge Lavrenyuk, Izabela Wojcik, Violetta Kaminska, Dariusz Jablonski, Darko Basheski
Production Company: Directory Films

Marysia Nikitiuk

She was born in Ukraine in 1986. She is a filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist. She studied at the Taras Shevchenko National University and at the Karpenko-Kary University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, both in Kiev. She has worked as a scriptwriter since 2012, and started directing her own films in 2012. When the Trees Fall, her first feature film, premiered at the Berlinale.