Povodyr

Oles Sanin : 2014
The Guide

Ukraine in the 1930s. American engineer Michael Shamrock arrives in Kharkiv with his ten-year-old son, Peter to help "build socialism". He falls in love with an actress, Olga who has another admirer, Communist Commissar Vladimir. Under tragic circumstances, the American is killed and his son is saved from his pursuers by a blind kobzar, Ivan Kocherga. With no other chance to survive in a foreign land, Peter becomes his guide. Ivan does everything to help his young guide to grow up and survive with a kind and clear soul that will not be hardened by what his eyes have seen. He tells the boy elaborate stories that make him believe there can be a different reality from what he sees around him. Their journey, full of dangerous adventures, unfolds against the background of one of the most dramatic pages of Ukrainian history and human destruction. The film about love, loyalty, betrayal and infamy is based on true events. Oles Sanin's feature premiered in competition at Odessa International Film Festival 2014, and received a Special Mention when it screened in competition at Bari International Film Festival 2015.