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NOTES OF A TRUE CRIMINAL
by Alexander Rodnyansky, Andriy Alferov
SYNOPSIS
After a 31-year hiatus, world-renowned producer Alexander Rodnyansky returns to documentary filmmaking, directing Notes of a True Criminal. Born in Kyiv, Rodnyansky was sentenced in absentia by a Russian court to 8.5 years in prison for his anti-war stance. In his film, Rodnyansky contemplates key events in Ukraine’s history and how they have affected him and his family: the referendum on Ukraine’s independence, the mass execution of Jews at Babyn Yar, Chernobyl, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany, and, of course, the war—the full-scale invasion by the Russian army, which began on February 24, 2022. The author’s narrative is not focused on the events themselves but on the people, human destinies, and art. Rodnyansky uses footage from his own documentaries and those of his family members to tell a new and deeply human story.
DETAILS
117 mins
2025
Ukraine, USA
Russian, Ukrainian
CREDITS
Directed by Alexander Rodnyansky, Andriy Alferov
Produced by AR Content, Andriy Alferov
BIOGRAPHY
DIRECTORS - ALEXANDER RODNYANSKY AND ANDRIY ALFEROV
Alexander Rodnyansky is a three-time Academy Award nominated producer of Ukrainian descent. Born in Kyiv, Rodnyansky began his career as a documentary filmmaker, whose film won prestigious international awards. Over the course of his career Rodnyansky produced over 50 feature films and television series. He worked with such internationally acclaimed directors as Andrey Zvyagintsev, Kantemir Balagov, Régis Wargnier, Billy Bob Thornton, the Wachowski siblings, Tom Tykver, Robert Rodriguez, Ari Follman and Kornel Mundruzo. Films produced by Alexander Rodnyansky have premiered and won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin and Venice Film Festivals and at TIFF.
Andriy Alferov is a Ukrainian director, producer, and film historian. He has curated two multi-media exhibitions on cinema: "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” (2016) and "Flights in Dreams and in Reality" (2020), and is the author of several books on Sergei Parajanov’s cinema and Soviet Ukrainian urban cinema.
SELECT FESTIVALS
VENICE 2025〡SEMINCI 2025〡FESTIVAL DO RIO 2025
PRESS
"A thought-provoking picture that analyses war from unconventional angles"
— Screendaily
"Absorbing"
— Variety
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