Archive of films The Voice of Ljudmila / Ljudmilas röst
Sweden
2001, 75 min
Section:
Documentary Films in Competition
Year: 2002
Ljudmila Ignatenko’s stirring recollections of the events of April 1986, which have forever marked her life. The narrator’s sorrow-filled voice describes the Chernobyl disaster in a film that offers a different view of the catastrophe’s still unexplained circumstances, which happened more than 15 years ago.
Synopsis
In April 1986 Lyudmila Ignatenko was five months pregnant when she celebrated her 23rd birthday. She and her husband Vasili lived in Pripyat, a town built near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. On the night of April 25th fireman Vasili was called to help with the reactor accident. As he left he said to his wife, “Go back to bed; I’ll wake you when I come home.” This documentary concerns a woman who lost her husband to a catastrophe that happened more than fifteen years ago, but who has yet to receive a satisfactory explanation for any of it. With Lyudmila’s own voice as a guide, the filmmaker returned to the place where joy was exchanged for pain and suffering. This vivid journey into the past, however, testifies to the narrator’s determination not to forget, to hold on to her memories, however painful.
About the director
Gunnar Bergdahl (b. 1951, Stockholm) graduated in journalism from the University of Göteborg. He works as a film critic and director of the Göteborg film festival. In 1997 he shot The Voice of Bergman (Bergmans röst). The Voice of Ljudmila is his second feature-length documentary. His latest film, Ingmar Bergman; Intermezzo was screened in the Quinzaine des réalisateurs section at this year´s Cannes IFF.
About the film
Black & white, 35 mm
Section: | Documentary Films in Competition |
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Director: | Gunnar Bergdahl |
Dir. of Photography: | Anders Bohman |
Music: | Pelle Bolander, Björn Knutsson |
Editor: | Anette Lykke Lundberg |
Producer: | Pelle Roskvist, Alik Špiljuk / Alik Shpilyuk |
Production: | FantomFilm Produktion AB ve spolupráci s / in co-operation with: Göteborg Film Festival, Film i Väst |