Pamfir

Pamfir is a barnstorming debut from Ukrainian filmmaker Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk with a powerhouse performance from Oleksandr Yatsentyuk as the eponymous hero. Part drama, part thriller, the story follows Pamfir as he returns to his family after a long absence, ready to celebrate the traditional carnival in their home village the following day. But when his son starts a fire in the prayer house, Pamfir has no other choice but to reconnect with his troubled past. He returns to work for a shady crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture, with irreversible consequences.

I believe that during the last 30 years of Ukrainian independence, we acquired the aspirations of previous generations: we want to separate ourselves from imperial Soviet influence… Pamfir is a father who wishes the best to his sibling and does everything possible and impossible to achieve that. He actually sacrifices himself and his beliefs to make his son live a better life. The more we reflect on who we are and why we are on this path of war, the more we will realize that the basics of this fight for freedom were laid not over the last 10 or 30 years, but over centuries. It seems to me that Pamfir is a typical Ukrainian who fights for his future having had a difficult past.

Director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk