volcano | MDR.DE

After a series of strange coincidences, translator Lukas (Serhiy Stepansky) suddenly finds himself stranded near a remote location in the southern Ukrainian steppes during an OSCE mission. With no idea where he will go, the townsfolk eventually finds refuge with an eccentric local named Vova (Victor Zhdanov). His host confronts him with a chaotic world beyond his imagination and opens up to him a world in which life seems completely divorced from any recognizable structure. Fascinated by Vova and his daughter Marushka (Khrystyna Deilyk), Lukas’s distaste for life in the provinces slowly fades away and he sets off in search of a happiness he never knew existed.

Roman Bondarchuk’s Vulcan had its world premiere at the 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Here, against the backdrop of the Russian annexation of Crimea, the director creates a surreal world in the endless expanses of southern Ukraine. A world that effortlessly combines absurd reality, dreamy fantasy and succinct humour. “Vulkan” is the first feature film by the Ukrainian director, born in 1982, after the two documentaries “Euromaidan. Rogue Cut” and “Ukrainian Deans.”