HOME GAMES
A season in the life of Alina, a 20-year-old girl from a poor family in Kyiv, who has a chance to be saved by football. She’s about to join the Ukrainian national team, when life throws up a new challenge: her mother dies, leaving two young siblings. Now, Alina must choose: football or family.
- GENRE:
- documentary
- COUNTRY:
- Ukraine, France, Poland
- RUNNING TIME:
- 86'
- YEAR:
- 2018
- DIRECTING:
- Alisa Kovalenko
- SCRIPT:
- Alisa Kovalenko
- DOP:
- Alisa Kovalenko, Stefan Serhiy Stetsenko
- EDITOR:
- Olha Zhurba
- PRODUCTION:
- Telewizja Polska, East Roads Films, Studio Garmata Film, DocEdu Foundation
Alisa Kovalenko »
Alisa Kovalenko is an award-winning Ukrainian screenwriter and documentary film director,and a member of the European Film Academy and the Ukrainian Film Academy. She studiedat the National Film University in Kyiv and at the Wajda School in Warsaw.Alisa’s debut documentary, Alisa in Warland, had its world premiere at IDFA — the world’slargest documentary film festival — in Amsterdam in 2015. Her documentary Home Games,portraying a young Ukrainian football player, premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest, was selectedfor IDFA, and became the first Ukrainian creative documentary acquired by Netflix.Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Alisa joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Army. Shefought on the front line for several months before returning to complete her film We Will NotFade Away, which had its world premiere at Berlinale 2023 and was nominated for theBerlinale Documentary Award.After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Alisa joined the 5th Independent Battalion of theUkrainian Volunteer Army within the 2nd Motorized Brigade “Black Swans”.Selected filmography:2023 – Girl Away from Home — director2023 – We Will Not Fade Away — directorBerlinale 2023, nomination for the Berlinale Documentary Award2018 – Home Games — directorIDFA, Sheffield Doc/Fest2015 – Alisa in Warland — directorIDFA International Documentary Film Festival (Netherlands), world premiereFIDADOC Agadir, DocsMXFestival du Cinéma et des Droits de l’Homme de Paris & Barcelone
AT FESTIVALS:
- IDFA, 2018 The Netherlands, 2018 (screening)
- Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Ukraine, 2019 (screening)
- Sheffield Doc/Fest, The United Kingdom, 2018 (competition)
- Odessa International Film Festival, Ukraine, 2018 (Best European Documentary Award)
- Duhok International Film Festival, Iraq, 2018 (Best International Documentary)
- Listapad Minsk IFF, Belarus, 2018 (Grand Prix of the Best Documentary)
- Verzio FF, Hungary, 2018 (competition)
- 7th International Anthropological Film Festival, Israel, 2018 (competition)
- Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Greece, 2018 (competition)
- Karama International Film Festival, Jordan, 2018 (competition)
- ArtDocFest Russian Open Documentary Film Festival, Russia, 2018 (Special Mention of the Jury)
- DocPoint Helsinki, Finland, 2019 (competition)
- One World IHR Documentary FF, Czech Republic, 2019 (competition)
- Inconvenient Films IDHRFF, Lithuania, 2019 (competition)