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FRAGILE MEMORY

By Igor IVANKO

Documentary - Completed 2022

Leonid Burlaka’s films were seen by millions of people in Ukraine during and after the Soviet Era. Today, dementia makes his memory fade. The story changes, when his grandson - a young cinematographer Igor - finds Leonid's forgotten and damaged archive.

- Year of production
- 2022
- Genres
- Documentary, Drama, First film
- Countries
- UKRAINE, SLOVAKIA
- Languages
- UKRANIAN, RUSSIAN, POLISH
- Budget
- 0 - 0.3 M$
- Director(s)
- Igor IVANKO
- Writer(s)
- Mariia PONOMAROVA, Igor IVANKO
- Producer(s)
- Alexandra BRATYSHCHENKO (BABYLON'13), Mariia PONOMAROVA (BURLAKA FILMS), Igor IVANKO (BURLAKA FILMS)
- Synopsis
- Soviet cinematographer Leonid Burlaka worked at Odesa Film Studio in the 60s on dozens of films that have travelled the world. Today he’s in his 80s and
  diagnosed with Alzheimer's. As his memory fades away, his grandson and young filmmaker, Ihor follows the tracks that Leonid left behind via film rolls, homemade videos, letters and forgotten friends.
  As he dives deeper and deeper into the archive, Ihor realises that the story of his grandfather has historical value. Burlaka started his career at a time where scripts
  were rejected and artists were dealing with censorship and he was established as a cinematographer in the mid-60s when the soviet repression finally relaxed. This
  political change is present in his works and also creates a strong bond between Ihor and Leonid, since both of these two men started working in cinema in times of turmoil. Having the fear that Leonid’s memory will be eventually erased completely, Ihor
  reaches out to his old friends and colleagues to find lost pieces that will hopefully reveal forgotten aspects of his grandfather’s life. However, Leonid’s memory fades faster and faster - will he be able to see the new life that Igor gives to his archive?