The film about a Donetsk cultural space turned into a torture chamber will be shown in French cinemas from 11 November 2026. The release is preceded by a Paris premiere with the participation of Amnesty International France and FIDH.
On 11 November, the French cinema release of the documentary film ‘ISOLATION’ by Ukrainian director Ihor Minaiev began. This was reported by the press service of the ‘Isolation’ foundation.
The film’s distributor in France is the company Pistoleros.
‘ISOLATION’ traces three lives of one place in Donetsk: a plant producing insulating materials built in Soviet times, a cultural space, and a torture chamber. In 2010, the cultural space ISOLATION was established on the site of the former plant, hosting Ukrainian and international artists.
On 9 June 2014, the space was seized by armed groups controlled by the Russian Federation. Since then, the former cultural space has been used as a place of unlawful detention, cruel treatment and torture. The film combines archive material and testimonies from people who passed through this prison. The number of victims remains unknown.
In 2024, the film received the Professional Jury Prize at the International Festival of Historical Cinema in Pessac (France).
The film’s French release comes against the backdrop of a court case in France. In April 2026, France detained and remanded in custody a Ukrainian citizen suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the ‘Isolation’ prison.
The film will be shown in the cities of Valence, Aubenas, Vernoux-en-Vivarais, Lamastre, Guingamp, Lannion and Saint-Donat-sur-l’Herbasse.