Volcano

A series of strange coincidences has left Lukas (Serhii Stepanskyi), who works as an interpreter for an OSCE mission, stranded in a small town in the middle of the southern Ukrainian steppe. His colleagues are gone. Money and documents have been stolen from Lukas. Not knowing where to turn, the city boy finds shelter in the house of a quirky local named Vova. With Vova as his guide, Lukas is confronted with a universe beyond his imagination. Suddenly, life seems completely detached from any recognizable structure. Fascinated by his host and his host's attractive daughter Marushka, Lukas' contempt for life in the provinces slowly melts away. The young Ukrainian sets off in search of a happiness he never knew could exist. “After the documentaries “Euromaidan. Rough Cut” and ‘Ukrainian Sheriffs’, ‘Volcano’ is the first feature film by Ukrainian director Roman Bondarchuk, born in 1982. “An impressively filmed parable about the forlornness and contradictions of Ukrainian society, which appears as a surreal world with sometimes funny, sometimes disturbing elements. The enormous imagination of the production is combined with documentary observation of Ukraine after the Russian annexation of Crimea in a captivating way. - Worth seeing” (Dictionary of International Film)