Maksym Osa: The Gold of Werewolf
SYNOPSIS (LONG) The film's intro summarizes the events that took place between 2014 and 2015 for two characters, Sergey and Anna. Their stories were told in my first film "Postcards From Ukraine", am…
Maksym Osa: The Gold of Werewolf
SYNOPSIS (LONG) The film's intro summarizes the events that took place between 2014 and 2015 for two characters, Sergey and Anna. Their stories were told in my first film "Postcards From Ukraine", among others. At that time, the Maidan revolution had just taken place and many people were afraid that a conflict could break out in the east of the country. The situation was very unstable and the Grivna, the Ukrainian currency, lost two-thirds of its value. Anna, an artist and pro-Ukrainian activist currently living in Kyiv, returned to her hometown of Donetsk to take part in the presidential elections. The pro-Russian separatists armed with Kalashnikovs broke into her apartment at night. They abducted and tortured her for seven days. She was released, mainly because she was neither rich nor particularly important as an activist, but she had to leave her hometown, which had already become a pro-Russian separatist stronghold in the east. At the same time, Sergei, an entrepreneur from Kharkiv, moved to Kyiv to open a club on Trukhaniv Island in an old Soviet building in the center of the Ukrainian capital. The sponsors did not provide him with the money they had originally promised. His dream of becoming part of the entertainment business in the capital was shattered and he had to find a new path. Two years have passed, it is 2017, and Anna now lives in Kharkiv and works as a volunteer in a center that supports displaced children and their parents. She can live on very little money and devotes herself to what she loves doing best: painting and writing poetry. She often travels with Illya to the so-called gray zone, a very dangerous region that is still plagued by war. Her job is to bring clothes and toys from the social center in Kharkiv to the people in these regions. Sergey has founded a new company in Kyiv called "Adventure Tours in Ukraine", which offers military tours for tourists. He teaches wealthy foreigners how to shoot various weapons, lets them drive old Soviet tanks in the region around Kyiv and arranges guided tours of Chernobyl. The business is growing, people come from all over the world because they love the adrenaline that the tours offer. Anna's ambitions go in a different direction. She wants to organize an art festival for children in Toschkiwka, a small village just two kilometers from the front line of the Donetsk People's Republic and the first separatist block post. A place where the school has been bombed and where you can hear the sound of shelling. At first she tries to raise the money with the help of a lawyer friend, but her lack of organization causes her to fail. On a train back to Kharkiv, she meets Liosha and falls in love with him. They move to the Ukrainian capital, without money and with the dream of building a new life and a family there. Anna leaves her crystalline dream of founding a festival behind in the gray zone while she struggles to find an apartment and a job. As "Adventure Tours in Ukraine" expands, more extreme tours are developed. Sergey hires new employees, including Alex, a guy who perfectly complements his bossy personality; he is more affable, speaks fluent English and is very well-mannered. In the meantime, Sergey becomes CEO of E-Chat, a kind of messaging application based on cryptocurrencies. In November 2017, the value of Bitcoin skyrockets and he is invited to very exclusive and expensive conferences around the world (including Davos, Berlin, London, Singapore) to present his start-up. Unfortunately for him, foreign entrepreneurs find both the project and his manners questionable, and the e-chat adventure ends as abruptly as it began. In the meantime, Anna and Liosha, like many other migrants from the East, have to cope with the hard life in Kyiv. She takes part in the memorial day in honor of those killed in the fight against the Yanukovych regime, which turns into a demonstration against corruption. Anna observes the events from the sidelines, not without skepticism. The exciting times of the so-called "Revolution of Dignity" on the Maidan are long gone and the country is not recovering, but is stuck in a frozen conflict. One day, at home with her friends, she reflects on the whole situation and the decisions she has made in her life. The following summer she becomes pregnant, while her boyfriend is unable to support her financially. Sergey is back in Kyiv, defeated in his crypto adventure, but refocused on his business in Ukraine and ready to do whatever it takes to make the venture a success. Will they manage to find their place in this world? Will their paths cross? What do their stories tell us about Ukraine after the revolution in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (2014)?
Maksym Osa: The Gold of Werewolf
History,Mystery,Thriller
Film Details
SYNOPSIS (LONG) The film's intro summarizes the events that took place between 2014 and 2015 for two characters, Sergey and Anna. Their stories were told in my first film "Postcards From Ukraine", among others. At that time, the Maidan revolution had just taken place and many people were afraid that a conflict could break out in the east of the country.
The situation was very unstable and the Grivna, the Ukrainian currency, lost two-thirds of its value. Anna, an artist and pro-Ukrainian activist currently living in Kyiv, returned to her hometown of Donetsk to take part in the presidential elections. The pro-Russian separatists armed with Kalashnikovs broke into her apartment at night.
They abducted and tortured her for seven days. She was released, mainly because she was neither rich nor particularly important as an activist, but she had to leave her hometown, which had already become a pro-Russian separatist stronghold in the east. At the same time, Sergei, an entrepreneur from Kharkiv, moved to Kyiv to open a club on Trukhaniv Island in an old Soviet building in the center of the Ukrainian capital.
The sponsors did not provide him with the money they had originally promised. His dream of becoming part of the entertainment business in the capital was shattered and he had to find a new path. Two years have passed, it is 2017, and Anna now lives in Kharkiv and works as a volunteer in a center that supports displaced children and their parents.
She can live on very little money and devotes herself to what she loves doing best: painting and writing poetry. She often travels with Illya to the so-called gray zone, a very dangerous region that is still plagued by war. Her job is to bring clothes and toys from the social center in Kharkiv to the people in these regions.
Sergey has founded a new company in Kyiv called "Adventure Tours in Ukraine", which offers military tours for tourists. He teaches wealthy foreigners how to shoot various weapons, lets them drive old Soviet tanks in the region around Kyiv and arranges guided tours of Chernobyl. The business is growing, people come from all over the world because they love the adrenaline that the tours offer.
Anna's ambitions go in a different direction. She wants to organize an art festival for children in Toschkiwka, a small village just two kilometers from the front line of the Donetsk People's Republic and the first separatist block post. A place where the school has been bombed and where you can hear the sound of shelling.
At first she tries to raise the money with the help of a lawyer friend, but her lack of organization causes her to fail. On a train back to Kharkiv, she meets Liosha and falls in love with him. They move to the Ukrainian capital, without money and with the dream of building a new life and a family there.
Anna leaves her crystalline dream of founding a festival behind in the gray zone while she struggles to find an apartment and a job. As "Adventure Tours in Ukraine" expands, more extreme tours are developed. Sergey hires new employees, including Alex, a guy who perfectly complements his bossy personality; he is more affable, speaks fluent English and is very well-mannered.
In the meantime, Sergey becomes CEO of E-Chat, a kind of messaging application based on cryptocurrencies. In November 2017, the value of Bitcoin skyrockets and he is invited to very exclusive and expensive conferences around the world (including Davos, Berlin, London, Singapore) to present his start-up. Unfortunately for him, foreign entrepreneurs find both the project and his manners questionable, and the e-chat adventure ends as abruptly as it began.
In the meantime, Anna and Liosha, like many other migrants from the East, have to cope with the hard life in Kyiv. She takes part in the memorial day in honor of those killed in the fight against the Yanukovych regime, which turns into a demonstration against corruption. Anna observes the events from the sidelines, not without skepticism.
The exciting times of the so-called "Revolution of Dignity" on the Maidan are long gone and the country is not recovering, but is stuck in a frozen conflict. One day, at home with her friends, she reflects on the whole situation and the decisions she has made in her life. The following summer she becomes pregnant, while her boyfriend is unable to support her financially.
Sergey is back in Kyiv, defeated in his crypto adventure, but refocused on his business in Ukraine and ready to do whatever it takes to make the venture a success. Will they manage to find their place in this world? Will their paths cross? What do their stories tell us about Ukraine after the revolution in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (2014)?.