“MY PLACE OZERNA” WINS GRAND PRIX IN SPAIN
The documentary directed by Karina Będkowska stole the hearts of the jury at Spain's MujerDoc festival, coming back home with the top prize.
MujerDoc is an international documentary film festival dedicated to women's rights and gender equality. The festival champions films that portray the stories of women from diverse cultures and from different backgrounds, highlighting their fight for their rights and dignity. The event presents both feature-length and short documentaries, alongside panel discussions and meetings with female filmmakers.
The protagonist of the winning film My Place Ozerna is the director herself. For the lonely protagonist, a trip from London to Ozerna – a small Ukrainian village – unexpectedly becomes a path to rediscovering her zest for life. In Ozerna, she meets her 84-year-old aunt Slava for the first time. Slava still misses her husband who passed away years ago. Several decades younger, Karina finds herself adrift, unable to find her place in life. Her residence in London only serves to deepen her sense of alienation, exacerbating her ongoing depression. Both women have lost their will to live, but their mutual affection gradually restores meaning to their lives.
Their relationship evolves into a discovery of the beauty they see in each other. Initially, Slava is distant towards Karina, but with subsequent visits over several years, Karina becomes like a granddaughter to her. Living in harmony with nature, Slava introduces Karina to her world. Ozerna becomes the place where she belongs. She rediscovers herself and learns what is most precious: close relationships, warmth, and tenderness – qualities difficult to find in a modern metropolis. In the Ukrainian countryside, we witness the birth of an intergenerational and transnational friendship between the two women. This intimate film reveals the process of building human connections, which Karina, the director and protagonist, has been filming over the past six years.
You can read more about the festival here.