Ukrainian documentary on Russian war crimes wins Berlinale Panorama Audience Award

The documentary Traces by Ukrainian directors Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk won the Panorama Audience Award at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival.

Source: Berlinale organisers on Facebook; Ukrainian State Film Agency; Alisa Kovalenko, a director of Traces, in an interview with Detector Media, a Ukrainian NGO and analytical media outlet

Details: The world premiere of the Ukrainian documentary Traces took place on 16 February in the Panorama Dokumente programme.

The film focuses on Ukrainian women who, during Russia's aggression against Ukraine, endured sexual violence and torture and refuse to remain silent, the Ukrainian State Film Agency said.

Quote from the Ukrainian State Film Agency: "Through the story of Iryna Dovhan, a former captive and head of Sema Ukraine, who became an activist and now documents testimony from women affected in the liberated territories of Ukraine, the film creates a collective portrait of trauma while also opening space for hope.

The documentary is both a record of war crimes and Russia's systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in Ukraine as well as testimony to the resistance and resilience of women who stand shoulder to shoulder." [Sema Ukraine is a survivor-led non-governmental organisation (NGO) of Ukrainian women who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence as a result of Russia's war against Ukraine.]

More details: The Ukrainian State Film Agency said that director Alisa Kovalenko knows this difficult subject from within, saying she had also suffered conflict-related sexual violence while in captivity in Donbas at the very start of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

She became one of the first women in Ukraine to speak about it publicly.

Quote from Alisa Kovalenko: "When I testified back in 2016, it turned out that I was the first and only person who openly spoke about what I had lived through at that time. Now, 10 years later, together with six other women, my fellow sisters, we are presenting this film at Berlinale. This is an incredible change, another stone knocked out of this wall of silence."

More details: As Traces was not part of the official selection, it did not compete for the Golden Bear or Silver Bear. Its nomination in the Panorama section made it eligible for the audience award. The Panorama Audience Award for best feature film and best documentary at Berlinale has been awarded since 1999.

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