fiction feature film
In a bid to safeguard her family from the Russian occupiers, an elderly grandmother teaches her daughter how to cultivate a vengeful guardian demon known as the Milkweed Man from milkweed seeds. Despite her daughter's skepticism toward magic, the villagers soon start discovering Russian soldiers strangled in ditches.
CREATIVE TEAM
OKSANA GRYTSENKO, scriptwriter
Playwright, screenwriter, journalist
Co-founder of the Theater of Playwrights (Kyiv).
Member of the Ukrainian Film Academy.
Education
1998 – 2004 National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Bachelor's degree in Political Science, Master's degree in Journalism.
Dramaturgical Education
September-December 2022, Eureka Series Mania scriptwriting course,
Lille, France, created in partnership with La Femis film school.
Filmography
"Don Juan from Zhashkiv," a feature film. The screenplay won the State Cinema competition in 2020. It was released in cinemas in January 2024 and remained in the top of Ukrainian films on Netflix for several weeks.
“My War and Me,” a post-documentary series released in Berlin in 2024.
"Donald and Ronald Wander Ukraine," a television series. The screenplay received development support from the Ministry of Culture in 2020.
Awards
The play ""Milkweed Man"" won the July Honey dramaturgical award in 2023 and was published in a collection of winning plays from the main Ukrainian dramaturgical festivals of the year. The play was also supported by the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Scholarship from the Schloss Solitude Academy in Stuttgart, Germany."
MYKOLA KOROTKIY, producer
Producer and Director.
2022 - present. Producer of educational video lessons for 5th, 8th-9th grades in German language for the New Ukrainian School with the support of the Goethe-Institut.
Director of the documentary film ""Unfinished Flight"".
A story about Denis Monastyrsky. Received an award from the ""Cinema for Victori"" festival.
Co-founder and general producer of the film company ""LLC Manifesto 18"".
Filmography:
2019 "Night Express" - Short film. Black comedy.
2019 "Bowling Alley" - Short film. Drama.
2021 "Survival is Needed" - Documentary film.
2021 "Home" - Short animated 3D film. Drama.
2021 "Heavenly Ascension" - Short film. Art.
2021 "Flame" - Short film. Drama.
Education and professional training
Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema, and Television named after I.K. Karpenko-Karyi, Faculty of Cinematography.
Bachelor's degree in the profession of announcer, presenter, author of television programs.
2005-2010.
Lesya Ukrainka Humanitarian Gymnasium in Zhovti Vody of Dnipropetrovsk region - 2005.