‘The Invasion by Sergei Loznitsa’

On Thursday 12 December, the premiere of The Invasion will be preceded by Sergei Loznitsa's State of Cinema lecture, after the film there will be an Q&A moderated by Aude Merlin (lecturer in political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a specialist in Russia and the Caucasus and a member of Cevipol.

​​​​​​​10 years after the release of his epic film Maidan, Sergei Loznitsa continues his Ukrainian chronicles and documents his country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Shot over a 2-year period, the film portrays the life of the civilian population all over Ukraine and presents a unique and ultimate statement of Ukrainian resilience in the face of a barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental canvas of a nation determined to defend its right to exist.

“I have been making this film with deep pain in my heart and with great love for my country. This film is born out of compassion.” Sergei Loznitsa

Sergei Loznitsa was born in 1964 in Belarus, he grew up in Kiev and studied at the famous film school VGIK in Moscow. His career as a filmmaker started off in 1996 with shorter documentary works followed in 2002 by his documentary feature The Settlement. The premiere of his fiction feature debut came in 2010 with My Joy that premiered in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where two years later, In the Fog (2012) won the FIPRESCI Prize. His films have been screened and received awards at various film festivals internationally. He won Best Director at Cannes for his fourth feature film Donbass in 2018. Since 1996 Loznitsa completed 23 award-winning documentaries and five fiction films.