- Occupation
Director - Country
Ukraine
Bukovsky Sergey
Spell Your Name
Director Sergey Bukovsky takes the viewer on a journey of discovery as he and several Ukrainian students absorb the testimony of local people who escaped brutal execution and those who rescued friends and neighbors during the Holocaust. A collection of men and women share the details of their experiences, and we are afforded a glimpse of modern-day Ukraine: the ethnic stereotypes that continue to exist and the manner in which Post-Soviet society is dealing with the question of how to memorialize the sites where tens of thousands of Jewish families and others were executed and thrown into mass graves.
The Hyphen
Russian actress Vera Kholodnaya became well-known in 1912. Seven years later she had played in forty movies and had become an international celebrity. THE HYPHEN goes back in time and tries to find out about her life and times, that seem so attractive now.In addition, director Sergey Bukovsky reflects on his own past and present in a society that divides people in right wing and left wing, civilians and soldiers, atheists and believers. He also went to Karabakh, the disputed and war-torn region.
Director Sergey Bukovsky takes the viewer on a journey of discovery as he and several Ukrainian students absorb the testimony of local people who escaped brutal execution and those who rescued friends and neighbors during the Holocaust. A collection of men and women share the details of their experiences, and we are afforded a glimpse of modern-day Ukraine: the ethnic stereotypes that continue to exist and the manner in which Post-Soviet society is dealing with the question of how to memorialize the sites where tens of thousands of Jewish families and others were executed and thrown into mass graves.
The Hyphen
Russian actress Vera Kholodnaya became well-known in 1912. Seven years later she had played in forty movies and had become an international celebrity. THE HYPHEN goes back in time and tries to find out about her life and times, that seem so attractive now.In addition, director Sergey Bukovsky reflects on his own past and present in a society that divides people in right wing and left wing, civilians and soldiers, atheists and believers. He also went to Karabakh, the disputed and war-torn region.
Born in 1960 in Bashkiria, the autonomous republic of the former Soviet Union. Grew up in Kiev. Studied directing at the Karpenko-Kary University of Theatre, Film and Television. After serving in the Soviet Army, he worked at the Ukrainian documentary film studio for more than a decade. Has made approx. 50 documentary films, including: Holiday (1987), Roof (1990), Dislocation (1992), The Hyphen (1992), To Berlin! (1995), Vilen Kalyuta. Real Light (2000), Terra Vermelha. Red Land (2001), and the 9-part documentary series for television War. The Ukrainian Account, which was awarded the National Taras Shevchenko Prize of Ukraine in 2004. From 1998 to 2003, Bukovsky taught courses in documentary directing at the Karpenko-Kary University of Theatre, Film and Television.
Sergey Bukovsky was born in 1960 in Bashkiria, the autonomous republic of the former Soviet Union. That same year, his father, film director Anatoly Bukovsky, and mother, actress Nina Antonova, brought him to Kiev.
There was always a crowd of guests in our one-room flat; they were my parents’ friends. They would come together to celebrate either the first or the last day of filming, or the presentation of a film to the State Film Committee of the USSR, or dubbing, or additional filming, or the long-awaited start of distribution. My first childhood memories are associated with a trip to Baturin, where my father shot the film Buryan (The Weeds). I remember the sugary-sweet smell of makeup, the noise of the lighting trucks, and my father shouting, "Action!" I remember crying when a heroine was "killed" and yelling, "Vermin!"…
Sergey Bukovsky studied directing in the Film Department at the Karpenko-Karyi Kiev State Institute of Theatrical Arts. After serving in the Soviet Army, he worked at the Ukrainian documentary film studio for more than a decade.
The 20-minute black-and-white film Tomorrow is a Holiday, shot in the first years of perestroika, received critical acclaim from the press, the film community, and audiences.
During his 25-year film career, Bukovsky has made approximately 50 documentary films. Some of them received awards at prestigious international film festivals. They include: Tomorrow is a Holiday (1987), Roof (1990), Dislocation (1992), The Hyphen (1992), To Berlin! (1995), Vilen Kalyuta. Real Light (2000), Terra Vermelha. Red Land (2001), and the 9-part documentary series for television War. The Ukrainian Account, which was awarded the National Taras Shevchenko Prize of Ukraine in 2004.
The difficulty in talking about this film (War. The Ukrainian Account) is that it is not only important as a cinematographic or television event… In Sergey Bukovsky’s film, for the first time, Ukraine acquires its own history of War World II. The history that is not rolled up into the ideological asphalt for a military parade… The history that is not hastily-fastened with white threads of politics… It is a genuine documentary epic, in which history is presented accurately: as the tragedy of millions of human lives bloodied by the tornado of war. It is a history of total betrayal. It is a history of a nation betrayed by its authorities. It is a history of a nation that betrayed its own past.
(Anna Sherman, "Telekritika" / 08.11.2002)
From 1998 to 2003, Bukovsky taught courses in documentary directing at the Karpenko-Karyi Kiev State Institute of Theatrical Arts.