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Marysia Nikitiuk

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Marysia Nikitiuk
Марися Нікітюк
Born1986 (age 37–38)
NationalityUkrainian
Alma materTaras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Notable workWhen the Trees Fall
Homeward

Marysia Nikitiuk (born 1986) is a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and fiction writer. She wrote and directed When the Trees Fall (2018) and co-wrote Homeward (2019), both of which have drawn recognition as among the best Ukrainian films. Nikitiuk also directed Lucky Girl (2021), and published a collection of short fiction, The Abyss (2016), which won the Oles Ulianenko International Literary Prize.

Early life and education

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Nikitiuk was born in 1986.[1] She attended Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv's Institute of Journalism, graduating in 2007.[1] She then earned a master's degree in theater studies at Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University, focusing on Japanese theater.[1]

Career

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Early career

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Early in her career, Nikitiuk worked in a variety of media, writing theater criticism and creating the website Teatre,[1] directing short films,[2] and publishing a collection of short stories (The Abyss, 2016),[3] which won the Oles Ulianenko International Literary Prize.[4]

Feature films

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In May 2016, Nikitiuk won the Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award for Best Film Script from Central and Eastern Europe at the Cannes Film Festival for the script that became her first feature film,[5] When the Trees Fall.[6] The prize was accompanied by a 10,000€ production grant.[5] Filmed in Ukraine and Poland,[7] When the Trees Fall premiered at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in 2018, where it collected seven awards.[8] Set in the small Ukrainian city of Lozova, the film centers on a five-year-old girl, Vitka, and her older cousin, Larysa, who is in love with a criminal.[9] When the Trees Fall was praised in The Hollywood Reporter as "bursting with audacity, flair and energetic promise."[10][11][12] The San Francisco Chronicle called it a "deliriously lyrical, sexy fable" and said "the final frames are breathtaking."[13] Polish film journal Kino praised Nikitiuk's "sensitivity, courage and fantasy."[14]

When the Trees Fall is frequently named as one of the best modern Ukrainian films.[15] It was listed as the fourth-best Ukrainian film of the 2010s by MovieWeb.[16][11] Vogue Ukraine listed it among "seven films to make you fall in love with modern Ukrainian cinema".[17] Viktoria Tihipko, president of the Odesa International Film Festival and the head of the board at the Ukrainian Film Academy, named it as one of the 30 "most iconic" films since Ukraine's independence.[18]

In 2019, Die Tageszeitung said, "Nikitiuk is regarded as the great hope of the new Ukrainian cinema."[19] Nikitiuk notes Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now as among her favorite films, chosen for their capacity to absorb the viewer from start to finish.[20]

Nikitiuk was a co-writer for director Nariman Aliev's Homeward,[21] which was shown in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.[22] It won the Grand Prix at the Odesa International Film Festival.[23] Collider, The Guardian and Ukraine’s National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Centre named the film to lists of the best works of Ukrainian cinema.[24][25][26]

Nikitiuk's next feature film was Lucky Girl, about a television star diagnosed with cancer.[27] The story was based on real-life television presenter Yanina Sokolova's battle with cancer.[28] Produced by Julia Sinkevych,[29] the film played in a Ukraine in Focus section at the Cannes festival in 2022.[30]

Projects in development

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As of 2021, Nikitiuk was developing an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, to be told from the perspective of a Ukrainian teenaged girl.[31] At the 2022 Sarajevo Film Festival, Nikitiuk won funding for a project called Cherry Blossoms, about Ukrainian refugees.[16] It is inspired by people she met sheltering in a village at the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[32]

Personal life

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Until the Russian invasion, Nikitiuk lived in Kyiv.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Desiateryk, Dmytro (1 March 2018). "Marysia NIKITIUK: "I want to say something about humanity with every story I tell"". The Day. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Марися Нікітюк: Сьогоднішній герой – поганець із добрим серцем і неймовірним почуттям провини". Українська правда _Життя. 2 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Магічний реалізм з елементами трешу. Фрагмент зі збірки Марисі Нікітюк "Безодня"". Українська правда _Життя. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Марися Нікітюк отримала літературну премію імені Олеся Ульяненка за роман «Безодня»". Detector Media (in Ukrainian). 17 September 2016. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b Antonenko, Alisa (19 May 2016). "Marysia Nikitiuk received a French award". The Day. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Marysia Nikitiuk: Today's Character is a Bad Man with a Kind Heart and an Incredible Sense of Guilt". Ukrayinska Pravda. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  7. ^ ""Її протест - реакція людини, яка не хоче померти в цьому болоті" - кінокритик про фільм "Коли падають дерева"". Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). 26 February 2018. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  8. ^ "На Берлінале показали фільм української режисерки". Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  9. ^ Abenia, Enrique (10 December 2021). "ArteKino 2021: La sorprendente personalidad de Marysia Nikitiuk en la ucraniana 'When the Trees Fall'". Cinemanía (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  10. ^ Young, Neil (27 February 2018). "'When the Trees Fall' ('Koly padayut dereva'): Film Review | Berlin 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b Hrytsai, Yana (20 May 2022). "The Best Ukrainian Movies of the 2010s, Ranked". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  12. ^ Lang, Jamie; Hopewell, John (18 May 2018). "Marysia Nikitiuk, Igor Savychenko Talk 'When the Trees Fall'". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  13. ^ Lewis, David (13 September 2018). "Hidden gems of the Mill Valley Film Festival". Datebook | San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  14. ^ Sajewicz, Anna. "TAM, GDZIE NAS NIE MA." Kino 53, no. 618 (12, 2018): 57-59.
  15. ^ "10 найкращих нових стрічок вітчизняного кінематографа". Unian. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  16. ^ a b Rosser, Michael (19 August 2022). "Sarajevo's CineLink reveals 2022 industry winners". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  17. ^ "7 фільмів, щоб закохатися в сучасне українське кіно". Vogue UA. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  18. ^ "30 знакових фільмів незалежної України: вибір Вікторії Тігіпко". Vogue UA. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  19. ^ "kinotipp". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). 14 March 2019. pp. 32 ePaper 8 Berlin. ISSN 0931-9085. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  20. ^ "11 улюблених фільмів режисерки та сценаристки Марисі Нікітюк". Wonderzine. 2 May 2020. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  21. ^ Simon, Alissa (29 May 2019). "Film Review: 'Homeward'". Variety. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  22. ^ Lavallée, Eric (10 March 2022). "2022 Cannes Film Festival Predictions - Critics' Week". IONCINEMA.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  23. ^ Shepeleva, Anastasia (29 August 2019). "Ukraine submits its nominee for the Oscars - Aug. 29, 2019". Kyiv Post. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  24. ^ Shomer, Jason (12 March 2022). "Best of Ukrainian Cinema, Like 'Homeward' and 'Bitter Harvest'". Collider. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  25. ^ Lodge, Guy (5 March 2022). "Streaming: the best Ukrainian films past and present". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  26. ^ "100 найкращих українських фільмів усіх часів за версією кінокритиків. Список". BBC News Україна (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  27. ^ Kudláč, Martin (23 August 2021). "REPORT: Works in Progress @ Karlovy Vary 2021". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  28. ^ "У фільму «Я, Ніна» про онкохвору журналістку змінився режисер". Detector Media (in Ukrainian). 4 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  29. ^ Sotinel, Thomas (21 March 2022). "Julia Sinkevych, présidente du jury du festival Séries Mania : « Ce sont les voix ukrainiennes que l'on doit entendre »". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  30. ^ Keslassy, Elsa; Frater, Patrick (13 April 2022). "Cannes Film Market Unveils Full Ukraine in Focus Program with Selected Filmmakers, Producers (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Марися Нікітюк пише сценарій фільму за мотивами «Лоліти» Набокова". Detector Media (in Ukrainian). 25 November 2021. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  32. ^ Sito-sucic, Daria (12 August 2022). "Sarajevo Film Festival provides platform for Ukrainian filmmakers". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  33. ^ "Ukrainische Regisseurin Marysia Nikitiuk - Plädoyer für den Kulturboykott". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
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