“THE HAMLET SYNDROME” NAMED BEST DOCUMENTARY AT AUSTRALIAN FESTIVAL

Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosolowski's film conquered Australia and was named best documentary at the ongoing Adelaide Film Festival.

The Adelaide Film Festival was established in 2003 and has since grown rapidly to become one of Australia's major film events. The festival's extremely rich program features the most interesting films from both Australia and the rest of the world. Audiences have the opportunity to see high-profile fiction films, intriguing documentaries, numerous shorts, and even daring VR projects. There are no restrictions, just good cinema.

Although the festival hasn't concluded yet, we have already learned some of the winners. The documentary competition was conquered by a documentary by the Polish duo. The Hamlet Syndrome delighted the jury composed of Lisa Scott, Ali Gumillya Baker, Luke Buckmaster, Jim Kolmar, Tusi Tamassesese.

War has taken a heavy toll on the generation of young Ukrainians. Several months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, five protagonists – inspired by the motifs of Hamlet – return to the brutal experience of recent years on stage trying to overcome their traumas. Each of them struggles with disappointment, helplessness, or anger in their own way. SLAVIK went through the real hell of war and captivity as a soldier. KATYA wants her mother to finally forgive her for going to the front lines. RODION escaped from the conflict-ridden Donbas and, as an LGBT person, is struggling with growing homophobia in post-revolutionary Ukraine. ROMAN, who tended to wounded soldiers as a military medic, is still fighting his traumatic memories. OXANA, as an actress, takes up the fight on the artistic front. What's most significant – no matter the values they represent, recent years have been a series of shocking experiences that left a brutal mark on their minds. For each of them, the theatre stage becomes a tribune for shouting their regrets while asking themselves Hamlet's central question: to be or not to be?

You can find out more about the festival here.