The White Cliffs of Vinnytsia — a film by Ukrainian director and artist Karolina Uskakovich — tells the story of the Khimprom plant, once one of Ukraine’s largest industrial enterprises, which went bankrupt in the 1990s. Alongside the abandoned industrial complex, a toxic phosphogypsum slag heap was left behind. Over time, a new urban wildlife ecosystem began to emerge on the site of these “white cliffs” in the centre of Vinnytsya.
The filmmaker returns to her hometown to explore the ecosystem of the slag heap through archival research, visual investigation, collaboration with experts, and an examination of post-industrial urban ecologies.
The film received a special mention in the documentary competition at the BEAST Eastern European Film Festival. The announcement was made on the festival’s Instagram page.
BEAST is an international film festival celebrating the best cinema from Central and Eastern Europe, held in Porto, Portugal.
Karolina Uskakovich is a multidisciplinary director, designer and artist from Kyiv. She completed a master’s degree in non-linear storytelling at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Since 2021, she has served as art director of the journal Anthroposphere: The Oxford Climate Review and is a member of the Digital Ecologies research group.