“Gamer” by Oleg Sentsov, a.k.a. something about playing in a film and playing in politics
GG, i.e. “Good Game”, is an acronym used to express appreciation among fans of computer games, after finishing a game. This phrase is also important to Alex “Koss”, title gamer from the film by Oleg Sentsov. On Friday, after the screening of the film in the Rebels section, the audience had an opportunity to meet with Olga Zhurzenko, a co-producer of the film.
Since 2014, Oleg Sentsov has remained incarcerated in a Russian prison, under charges of plotting to commit a terrorist attack. Earlier on, he was involved in Euromaidan, a wave of civil protests and unrest in Ukraine, and in the actions initiated by the so-called AutoMaidan movement. He was supported by many people from the cultural community, for example Daniel Olbrychski. Torun is also one of the centres where a group of people have joined forces to draw the attention of the people to the desperate situation of the Ukrainian film director. The activists attended the Friday meeting to offer their support for the director.
Unfortunately, it is currently impossible to have any contact with Oleg Sentsov. He is recovering after a hunger strike, which makes it impossible for him to respond to any message, even if he would actually receive it. In view of that fact, the discussion held at the meetings focused on production and post-production of Gamer, and the current situation of cinema in Ukraine.
Sentsov himself used to be a professional computer gamer, which gave him the idea to make a film about gamers, a community alienated both in reality and in the film. The director had also once run a club for computer games maniacs, and the majority of the people depicted in the film were actual members of the very club. This way, the people playing the leading roles found it easy to step in the shoes of their characters, despite having zero experience as actors. The final effect is a disturbing one – we see a crowd of people, and each of them is confined to their own world, separated from all others, with earphones plugged in their ears and eyes seeing nothing else but the screen in front of them. However, one cannot help having connotations with sport, as Alex follows a hard training regime to become a champion. More than that, he even becomes a local celebrity, although you can clearly see emptiness behind everything he does. That particular element encouraged comparisons to 400 Blows by François Truffaut, although the authors had not intended to make any references to the film by the French director, as the co-producer emphasised.
Gamer is a full-feature début of Oleg Sentsov, which was received warmly, despite the fact that the authors had little budget, which made it impossible to ensure a professional sound quality. The film premièred at the festival in Rotterdam, and the very same Ukrainian authorities who had previously refused to give any funds to make the film then contacted the producers and offered to finance post-production of Gamer and help make another film. The soundtrack to Gamer had to be re-recorded to a large extent, in order to make sure the film had the quality required for its release in cinemas. Whatever plans the director had for making another film, they were interrupted by his involvement in Euromaidan and protest against the annexation of Crimea, and finally by his arrest carried out by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian cinema is now blooming. Last year, the budget allocated to the supporting of native film productions was doubled, and the subjects discussed by filmmakers focused on two main axes – the conflict with Russia and retaking Ukrainian history after the many long years of the ideological domination of the Soviet propaganda. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say, whether Sentsov will ever have a chance to participate in this Renaissance of Ukrainian cinema. Right now, he is facing 20 years in a maximum security prison.
Marek Safij
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