Ukraine Is Not a Brothel
Ukraine Is Not a Brothel is a 2013 Australian documentary film directed by Kitty Green. The film debuted at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, although it was not part of the competition. The documentary concerns the FEMEN movement, a feminist protest group originating from Ukraine.
Content
The film is a documentary on the activities of FEMEN, a Ukrainian feminist movement known for topless protests. The filmmaker Kitty Green followed the activists for over a year, in Ukraine, Belarus and Turkey. It documents the protests and the resulting harassments and arrests over a span of fourteen months. The film showcases the four activists who form the core of the film.The documentary shows Viktor Sviatsky as a driving force of the group FEMEN. He is the manipulator of all the protests and, in essence, commander of the females.
The activists of FEMEN participated in the promotion of the documentary. They claimed that the situation in the film, i.e. under the leadership of Viktor Sviatsky, is actually part of the past, since he was ejected from the movement in 2012
Cast
- Viktor Sviatsky
- Inna Shevchenko
- Alexandra Shevchenko
- Anna Hutsol
- Oksana Shachko
Release
Critical reception
Glenn Dunks and Christopher Schobert of The Playlist on IndieWire gave the film positive reviews, and Tara Judah of Overland gave the film a negative review.Accolades
On 9 September 2014, Ukraine is Not a Brothel won for the Best Feature Length Documentary by Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, awarded at the 4th AACTA Awards at The Star Event Centre, Sydney, New South Wales in late January 2015| Award | Category | Subject | Result |
| AACTA Award | Best Feature Length Documentary | Jonathan auf der Heide | |
| AACTA Award | Best Feature Length Documentary | Michael Latham | |
| AACTA Award | Best Feature Length Documentary | Kitty Green | |
| AACTA Award | Best Direction in a Documentary | Kitty Green | |
| AACTA Award | Best Editing in a Documentary | Kitty Green | |
| AACTA Award | Best Cinematography in a Documentary | Michael Latham | |
| AACTA Award | Best Sound in a Documentary | Doron Kipen | |
| AACTA Award | Best Sound in a Documentary | Jed Palmer | |
| AACTA Award | Best Original Music Score in a Documentary | Jed Palmer | |
| AACTA Award | Best Original Music Score in a Documentary | Zoe Barry |