A word from the Festival Curator at the Opening Ceremony

Dear all,

It is my pleasure to welcome you — friends old and new — to the opening of the XIII annual independent documentary film festival RUSDOCFILMFEST-3W. I would like to express my deepest thanks to all of you for joining us during these unprecedented times!

We are living in a diverse world and belong to different backgrounds, heritages and cultures. Only by learning from each other, the culture of each country, we can make our own advancement.

The independent documentary films reflect the real life and the authentic imagination of people. By watching these films, we will better understand the world, cultural diversity – and ourselves. Civilizations always become richer and more colorful through mutual learning from each other. Such exchanges are the only way to improve our life, to develop human progress, to keep global peace. This is the significance of international film festivals.

Documentary cinema speaks a universal language. It is relevant for all people, regardless of their national, cultural, or social backgrounds.

Our team have searched to find a selection of the best new documentary films for this year’s festival. The films you will find in the program span a wide variety of genres, styles, and topics.

We represent the independent documentary movies from the so-called Post-Soviet countries and multi-ethnic Russian speaking Diaspora in its exile throughout the world. These people obtained a unique experience of surviving under totalitarian regimes. And they send to the world their unique message. We all have to listen to their voices, to understand these people, their culture, their heritage. We hope that this film festival will be a window to these cultures and societies.

14 films represented on screen of our Online Theater are made in Armenia, Bulgaria, Israel, Kazakhstan, France, Spain, Russia. We hope the stories we’ve brought together will inspire you, teach you something new.

A special thanks to our amazing team, devoted volunteers, great partners, sponsors, filmmakers, and — to all of you for watching these amazing films.

We know we will get through these difficult times together!

Watch and enjoy!

Marina Adamovitch, curator of the RUSDOCFILMFEST-3W.
The New Review Inc.

A House Made of Splinters
2022  
•  Co-production: Denmark, Ukraine, Sweden, and Finland  
•  1:27h  
•  Ukrainian, Russian, with English subtitles
Author/Director(s): Simon Lereng Wilmont
Producer(s): Monica Hillström

This documentary had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and was the Academy Award nominee for Best documentary film in 2023. The film is about children from a special orphanage in Eastern Ukraine. A small group of social workers is taking care of children who lost their parents in the war. They are trying to create a safe space for children near the front line. The filming of the documentary lasted for more than two years in the Donbas region.

Simon Lereng Wilmont’s “Distance Barking of Docs” received the Grand Prix at the 12th RUSDOCFILMFEST in 2019.

Fri, March 24