THE KIEV TRIAL
Holland, Ukraine, 2022, Director Sergei Loznitsa, Running time 106′
Born in Belarus, director Sergei Loznitsa lived and studied in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, often mentioned in the contemporary chronicles since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The town is also known for the famous trial in January 1946 that Loznitsa retraces in his movie presented out of competition at Venezia 79.
The Kyiv Trial was one of the first against the nazist captured by the Soviets. 15 people were accused of the atrocity inflicted on the Ukrainian Jews that were officially declared “crimes against humanity”. 1679 indictments precisely. The movie is an ideal follow-up to the previous Babi Yar. Context which analyzed the massacre of September 1941 when were killed more than 33.000 Jews in Kyiv.
Another page of history produced by (such as 2018 Donbass and The Event, out of competition in Venice in 2015) Atoms & Void, Loznitsa’s company. The director has the idea to make a third movie about this argument after the controversies raised by Babi Yar and waiting for the reaction about this new Nuremberg.
Loznitsa says that the movie is based on historical events and supported by archive footage never seen before with statements of the accused and testimonies of the victims.
