Archive of films Stop-Zemlia / Stop-Zemlia
Sixteen-year-old introvert Masha only feels truly confident in the company of school friends Yana and Senia; outside the classroom she contemplates life and reflects upon herself, and daydreams about a guy in her class who she's in love with… Kateryna Gornostai draws the viewer into the microworld of pupils in their pre-graduation year and provides an authentic insight into one of the emotionally most intense periods of our lives. Stop-Zemlia won Best Feature Film in the Generation category at this year’s Berlinale.
Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old introvert Masha only feels truly confident in the company of school friends Yana and Senia; outside the classroom she contemplates life and herself, and daydreams about a guy in her class who she's in love with... With infinite mastery director Kateryna Gornostai draws the viewer into the microworld of the pre-graduation year, laying bare the dreams and apprehensions of young high-school students. This lyrically fragile film provides an insight into one of the emotionally most intense periods of our lives – a period of self-discovery often accompanied by a painful sense of misgiving and also by the gradual awareness of one’s own identity. Working closely with her young cast, the director achieved a high degree of authenticity, securing her Best Feature in the Generation category at this year’s Berlinale.
Lenka Tyrpáková
About the director

Kateryna Gornostai (1989, Lutsk, Ukraine). Filmography: Between Us (Mizh namy, 2013, short doc.), Euromaidan. Rough Cut (Evromaidan. Chornovy Montazh, 2014, doc.), Away (Viddalik, 2015, short), Maidan Is Everywhere (Skriz Maidan, 2015, medium-length doc.), Lilac (Buzok, 2017, short), Crocodile (Krokodyl, 2018, short), Stop-Zemlia (2021).
Contacts
Pluto Film
Schliemann Strasse 5, 10437, Berlin
Germany
Tel: +49 030 219 182 20
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.plutofilm.de
About the film
Color, DCP
Section: | Horizons |
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Director: | Kateryna Gornostai |
Screenplay: | Kateryna Gornostai |
Dir. of Photography: | Oleksandr Roshchyn |
Music: | Maryana Klochko |
Editor: | Nikon Romanchenko, Kateryna Gornostai |
Art Director: | Maxym Nimenko |
Producer: | Vitalii Sheremetiev, Viktoriia Khomenko, Natalia Libet, Olga Beskhmelnytsina |
Production: | ESSE Production House |
Cast: | Maria Fedorchenko, Arsenii Markov, Yana Isaienko, Oleksandr Ivanov |
Sales: | Pluto Film |