Dir. Zaza Buadze, Oleksandr Zemlanyi
122 mins

Please join us for this very special screening of the award-winning Ukrainian film Mother of Apostles with special guest, the film’s star, Nataliia Polovynka. This screening will be introduced by Polovynka, who will also take questions after the film, and be available directly after for informal discussion in the main Phoenix space. All proceeds for this film will be donated to support the ongoing effort of Polovynka’s theatre Word and Voice which has been acting as a humanitarian relief centre since March 2022 and continues to preserve and continue Ukraine’s rich cultural heritage.

ABOUT THE FILM

Based on real events in Ukraine during 2014, Mother of Apostles, tells the tragedy of the war that continues to rage through the story of a mother. When Sofia learns that her son’s plane has been shot down during an operation, she does not hesitate to go in search of him. But no one knows where her son is, whether he survived, or if he was captured. For the sake of his salvation, Sofia will have to pass through a series of dangerous trials while enduring the enemy’s hatred and threats. This terrible journey will change her, transforming her from an ordinary person into a great Mother. With her immeasurable maternal heart and profound love, the Mother becomes capable of saving even the lost souls of her country’s enemies.

Mother of Apostles presents a full picture of the tragedy brought about by war. The formerly prosperous region of Eastern Ukraine has been turned into ruins, not only its cities and villages, but what is much worse — into the ruins of body and soul. There are no politics in the film, only the piercing pain of war. Every war is the death of sons and the suffering of mothers. The world should not be washed by mother’s tears, it should be illuminated by her love and warmth.

https://mother-apostles-film.in.ua/

To help support the ongoing work of Word and Voice and the Devon Ukrainian Association, an Exeter-based group that has been supporting new Ukrainian arrivals in the Southwest since March, you can further donate here:

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/irmos

Film credits:

Director-producer.                             Zaza Buadze

Director operator.                              Oleksandr Zemlanyi

Composers.                                         Roman Hryhoriv, ​​Ilya Razumeyko

Production designer.                         Inga Zhitnia

Authors of the script.                        Ratha Makeyenkova, Zaza Buadze

Graphics and special effects            Viktor Romanyuk

Producer                                              Dmitry Ovechkin

Creative producer                              Victoria Tymoshenko

Film editor                                           Svitlana Yatsynych

Producer  Studio “Golden Fleece” with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine

MORE ABOUT THE ACTOR & HER COMPANY: 

Nataliia Polovynka is a singer, stage and screen actress, pedagogue, and founder of the Word and Voice theatre centre in Lviv. She studied music at the Lysenko State Conservatory in Lviv (under Prof. Tarnavetska) and theatre with Jerzy Grotowski at his and Thomas Richards’ Workcenter in Pontedera, Italy, as well as from directors KLIM and Sergii Kovalevych. Nataliia performs ancient spiritual songs, traditional songs, romances, classical music and contemporary academic music. She has created many projects at the intersection of theatre and music. Having developed an original vocal methodology, she has conducted voice and singing work sessions internationally, including  at Yale University (USA) and Aberystwyth University (Wales, U.K.). She was also a core teacher at the ‘Atelier’, an educational project implemented by the Grotowski Institute in 2007 and 2008. Previously, Polovynka has been actress and music director of the Les Kurbas Theatre in Lviv [1988-2006], and artistic director of Maisternia Pisni (Song Workshop) [2003-2010]. In 2010, she established the Word and Voice Theatre Research and Art Education Centre in Lviv. Nataliia is the recipient of the Shevchenko National Prize as well as many awards and honours at international theatre and film festivals, including the Silver George Award for Best Actress in Brothers. The Last Confession (dir. Victoria Trofimenko, 2013). In 2021-22, she was awarded Best Actress prizes at six prestigious international film festivals in the US, Canada, Italy, France, Poland and Ukraine for role in the film Mother of Apostles (dir. Zaza Buadze, 2020) based on the real events of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Word and Voice Theatre Centre arose from the need to create a School of Living Tradition, based in Ukraine, on the principles of modern theatre but rooted in the practice of understanding and applying the laws and technologies of tradition. In this way, it was founded on the following interacting principles: School – Artistic Research – Theatre, which were in turn based on an earlier trinity: Tradition – Song – Theatre.

More information: https://slovoigolos.com/uk

VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX, STUDIO 74

*Subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge. We don’t charge this to make a profit. Find out more >>