A FILM SCREENING IN SUPPORT OF OLEG SENTSOV. THE DOCUMENTARY “THE TRIAL. OLEG SENTSOV VS RUSSIAN STATE” WILL BE SCREENED

A Film Screening in Support of Oleg Sentsov

Join us for the documentary screening “The Trial: Oleg Sentsov vs the Russian State” on 14th July at 12:00 pm at Bertha DocHouse Cinema, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AW. Admission is free with registration on Eventbrite.

Donations for Oleg’s family are welcome and can be made online or on the day of the event.

‘The Trial’ tells the story of Crimean film director Oleg Sentsov’s resistance to the repressions of the Russian state.

“A peek into how the Russian state actually operates (…) leaves you with a shuddering chill” – Variety

On 14th May 2018, Oleg Sentsov announced an indefinite hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners, while not asking for his own release. Each day brings Oleg closer to death as his health deteriorates due to his prolonged imprisonment in a Russian Arctic prison camp.

Film director Askold Kurov investigates the truth behind this political show trial. Were the witnesses for the prosecution placed under duress? What effect did detention and the trial itself have on the accused and his family? The film also documents the solidarity shown to Sentsov by filmmaking colleagues such as Agnieszka Holland, Ken Loach, and Pedro Almodóvar, and by the European Film Academy.

In ‘The Trial’, Oleg Sentsov embraces his role as a political prisoner. The film reveals the stakes involved: when he speaks to his daughter on the phone, we see the personal agony of incarceration and the torn bonds of a family. Sentsov was subjected to torture in prison to extract a confession to activities that never occurred. “I don’t know what your convictions are worth if you aren’t ready to suffer for them, or even to die” – an extract from Oleg Sentsov’s speech given on the day he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.