Oleh Sentsov Captures Front Line In Ukraine-Russia War

EXCLUSIVE: Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov spent more than five years in prison in Russia for opposing its annexation of his native Crimea in 2014. 

At this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the filmmaker debuts Real, a feature documentary he shot from the front lines of Ukraine’s defense against Putin’s invasion of the country. 

The film will debut as a special screening at Karlovy Vary. The synopsis reads: During the first days of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, film director Oleh Sentsov, an army reservist since returning from his incarceration in Putin’s gulag,  joined a unit of the Ukrainian Defence Forces. In his role as an army lieutenant, he took part in several intensive battles – and during one, his BMP armored vehicle was destroyed by Russian artillery. In the aftermath, he became embedded in nearby trenches and tried to organize via radio the evacuation of part of his unit. All the while his men were under consistent attack, and eventually ran out of ammunition, making their evacuation all the more urgent. This military event on the Ukrainian-Russian front line positions was given the code name Real.

The film is a co-production between Propeler Film and Downey Ink. The producers are Denis Ivanov, Oleh Sentsov, Mike Downey, Boris Matić, and Lana Matić. 

Sentsov, whose filmography spans Rhino (2021), Nomery (2020), and Gamer (2011), joined Ukraine’s voluntary Territorial Defense forces on the day of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022. Within a year, the 47-year-old filmmaker had moved into the country’s special forces and has since seen regular action in eastern Ukrainian hotspots of Zaporizhzhia, Bakhmut, and Donetsk.

Last year it was reported that the filmmaker sustained shrapnel injuries while fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine. He reported his injuries on his Facebook page, where he regularly posts updates about his life at the front.

“Three injured, mostly fractures. Already pulled out of my face, the small things in my hand and foot will stay with me forever. The other guys are fine too – Zaporizhzhia doctors know their stuff, thank you!” he wrote at the time. 

Check out the trailer for Real above.