Aleksandr Balagura
Director, Screenwriter, EditorUkraine
Details
- >Career :55 years
Aleksandr Balagura was born in 1960 in Luboml (USSR, now Ukraine). He graduated from the Faculty of History at Kyiv State University. From 1989 to 1998, he worked as a director at the Ukrainian Documentary Film Studio. His first independent work, “To Our Brothers and Sisters“, received the Best Documentary Award at the 1990 Festival dei Popoli in Florence.
In 1991, he returned to Florence to present his short film “Widow-Street” (out of competition). He has directed more than 20 documentaries including “Antologion” (1996), “Wings of a Butterfly” (2008), selected at Cinéma du réel and Torino IFF, Life Span of an Object in Frame (2012) – Special Jury Mention at FID Marseille. His film “Story for an Empty Theatre” (2016) directed with Cesare Bedogné has been selected in more than 30 international festivals and has received numerous awards, including the Best Experimental Film Award and Best Documentary.
Since 1998 he has lived and worked in Genoa, Italy.
Photos au festival (6)
Filmography (15)
1990 – (To Our Brothers and Sisters)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : When a mass grave dating from World War II is reopened in the Demianov Laz Valley (Ukraine), several survivors find themselves "face to face" with the dead. The film questions historical memory and the impossible dialogue between the living and the dead.
Synopsis : When a mass grave dating from World War II is reopened in the Demianov Laz Valley (Ukraine), several survivors find themselves "face to face" with the dead. The film questions historical memory and the impossible dialogue between the living and the dead.
1991 – (Widow‑Street)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : An intimate portrait of a Roma village on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, the film depicts the traditions and marginality of a community living on its own, without any imposed narrative.
Synopsis : An intimate portrait of a Roma village on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, the film depicts the traditions and marginality of a community living on its own, without any imposed narrative.
1992 – (Three Tamles on the My Hand)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis :
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- 1993 – (Volodimir Ivasyuk. The Melody)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis :
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- 1994 – (From Green Things of One Fox)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis :
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- 1995 – (Messa eclectica)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis :
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2013 – (Loli Kali Shuba)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : Twenty years later, a return to a Ukrainian romography community where a little girl sang a nursery rhyme about a ladybug called "Loli Kali Shuba." The film is a poetic investigation into memory, childhood, and the love of marginal traditions.
Synopsis : Twenty years later, a return to a Ukrainian romography community where a little girl sang a nursery rhyme about a ladybug called "Loli Kali Shuba." The film is a poetic investigation into memory, childhood, and the love of marginal traditions.
2016 – (Story for an Empty Theatre)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : A work with a dual interpretation between cinema and theater, a reflection on emptiness and narration. Selected at more than 30 festivals, awarded as best experimental film and documentary in various international distinctions.
Synopsis : A work with a dual interpretation between cinema and theater, a reflection on emptiness and narration. Selected at more than 30 festivals, awarded as best experimental film and documentary in various international distinctions.
2021 – (We are all images of this film)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : In this film by Aleksandr Balagura, Alain Fleischer, with the help of his partner and collaborator Danielle Shirman, talks about his art, reads a chapter from his new novel, and reluctantly comments on the Zen-like Story of Ten Oxen, which in the film becomes a Story of Ten Horses and is illustrated with sequential photos by Eadweard Muybridge.
Synopsis : In this film by Aleksandr Balagura, Alain Fleischer, with the help of his partner and collaborator Danielle Shirman, talks about his art, reads a chapter from his new novel, and reluctantly comments on the Zen-like Story of Ten Oxen, which in the film becomes a Story of Ten Horses and is illustrated with sequential photos by Eadweard Muybridge.
1996 – (Antologion)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : A poetic montage of fragments from Soviet Ukrainian cinema, dedicated to the legendary figures of national cinema. This narrative-free film constructs a collective memory of lost images, questioning Ukrainian cinematic identity.
Synopsis : A poetic montage of fragments from Soviet Ukrainian cinema, dedicated to the legendary figures of national cinema. This narrative-free film constructs a collective memory of lost images, questioning Ukrainian cinematic identity.
2004 – (Pausa italiana)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : Meditation on cinematic waiting: the director returns to a film that was never completed, transforming waiting into a visual experience, in a contemplative and minimal temporality.
Synopsis : Meditation on cinematic waiting: the director returns to a film that was never completed, transforming waiting into a visual experience, in a contemplative and minimal temporality.
2008 – Le battement d'ailes d'un papillon (Wings of a Butterfly)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : Using Super 16 reels recorded 25 years earlier in kyiv, Balagura reflects on time, oblivion, and filmic traces. A nostalgic film about a lost camera, lost friends, and a country that has changed.
Synopsis : Using Super 16 reels recorded 25 years earlier in kyiv, Balagura reflects on time, oblivion, and filmic traces. A nostalgic film about a lost camera, lost friends, and a country that has changed.
- 2009 – (Textura Lucis)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : An abstract exploration of chiaroscuro and time, through fragmented images and visual textures evoking light and memory.
Synopsis : An abstract exploration of chiaroscuro and time, through fragmented images and visual textures evoking light and memory.
2010 – (L'intonazione del correre)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis :
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2012 – (Life span of the object in frame)
Role : Director, Screenwriter, EditorSynopsis : The film questions photography as a medium of time and memory: each image is a window into time. Through meditations and references to Dante and Muybridge, Balagura questions the cinematic form itself.
Synopsis : The film questions photography as a medium of time and memory: each image is a window into time. Through meditations and references to Dante and Muybridge, Balagura questions the cinematic form itself.
Citations (2)
"Every work of art, every film, is always a new path. It hasn't been "charted," so it's dangerous, and the director always takes it in solitude. It's like Andrei Tarkovsky's The Zone. It's a journey, "in solitude and in danger," but it's the only way to reach the room where wishes are granted. Except that, unlike the characters in Stalker, who ultimately have the choice of whether or not to enter their Room, to make our film, we must necessarily enter our Room. This room of ours is called the editing room."
Aleksandr Balagura, eefb.org
"To Our Brothers and Sisters is not just about national mourning. I was interested in the contrast between the emotional power of the event and the 'simplicity' of the physical actions of the rite, which boil down to a tear."
Aleksandr Balagura, eefb.org
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