The Ukrainian Oscar Committee has selected the documentary film "Traces", directed by Alisa Kovalenko and co-directed by Marysia Nikitiuk, as Ukraine’s submission for the 99th Academy Awards.
The film will compete in the Best International Feature Film category. In addition, the project has earned the right to be considered for the statuette in the Best Documentary Feature Film category.
The film’s world premiere took place this year at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama Dokumente section, where the filmmakers received the Audience Award.
Later, the project won Best Film in the documentary competition at the human rights festival Movies That Matter in The Hague, and also made the top 20 audience favourites at Canada’s Hot Docs festival.
The film tells the story of Ukrainian women seeking justice after surviving sexual violence and torture during Russia’s aggression. At the centre of the plot is the story of former captive Iryna Dovhan, who is now documenting testimonies from survivors in de-occupied territories. Director Alisa Kovalenko, who also survived Russian captivity at the start of the war, noted that submitting the film for an Oscar makes it possible to draw the world’s attention to the occupiers’ war crimes and amplify the voices of women who survived.
The film was produced by Nataliia Libet and Olha Brehman of the film company 2Brave Productions, who are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. To draw the international community’s attention to the issue of sexual violence during war, the film team has already organised a series of special screenings and events abroad.
- It was previously reported that a film about American journalist Brent Renaud, who was killed in Irpin in 2022 during Russian shelling, was included in the Best Documentary Short Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.