THE TRIAL – THE STATE OF RUSSIA VS OLEG SENTSOV

By Askold KUROV

ALPHAPANDA - as PROMO

Documentary - Completed 2017

"The Trial" is an attempt to investigate the circumstances of the case of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, arrested by the Russian security service at his home, in the Russian-occupied Crimea, and sentenced to 20 years in prison on contrived charges.


    • Year of production
    • 2017
    • Genres
    • Documentary
    • Countries
    • ESTONIA, POLAND, UKRAINE, CZECH REPUBLIC
    • Languages
    • RUSSIAN, UKRANIAN, ENGLISH
    • Budget
    • 0 - 0.3 M$
    • Duration
    • 70 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Askold KUROV
    • Producer(s)
    • Max TUULA (Marx Film), Masha GAVRILOVA (Marx Film)
    • Synopsis
    • In August 2015, despite insuffi cient evidence, the case inconsistencies and the key witness’s change of testimony, the Russian courts sentenced Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov to 20 years in prison. The film investigates the circumstances of Oleg Sentsov’s case, follows the progress of the trial and the attempts of Oleg’s family, friends and lawyers to save him from prison.

      The notorious case inspired protests in various communities all around the world. The festivals in Venice, San Sebastian and Kyiv named Oleg an honorary jury member. The European Film Academy became one of the main backers of the campaign for Oleg‘s freedom. Pedro Almodovar, Agnieszka Holland, Wim Wenders, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Aki Kaurismäki, Volker Schlöndorff, Bertrand Tavernier, Andrzej Wajda and many other famous fi lmmakers called for his release.