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Ashes Settling in Layers on the Surface

Dir. Zoya Laktionova

Producers: Natalia Libet (Ukraine), Victor Ede (France)

Production companies: 2Brave Productions (Ukraine), Cinephage Productions (France)

Duration: 75’

Delivery: DCP, 2K Color

Sound: 5K

Language: Ukrainian

Logline: Based on diaries and photographs of the director’s grandfather and mother, the film reconstructs the life of one family within the never-ending cycle of destruction and restoration in her hometown — Mariupol. Today, the director is left with nothing except her memories. And she is not the only one: while we are watching this film, somewhere there is war.

​​Supported by
2023 - European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films - development
2022 - Netflix and Ukrainian Film Academy - development

2022 - IDFA Bertha Fund - development

2021 - Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UСF) - director's research
 

Labs/ Residencies

2024​ - American Film Showcase editing workshop, Warsaw (Poland)

2024 - Film Independent Global Media Makers Residency, Los Angeles (USA)

2023 - Documentary Industry Days in Gdynia​ (Poland)

2023 - IDFA Project Space, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2023 - DocLab Poland at Krakow Film Festival (Poland)
2022-2023 - Harriman Residency of Columbia University, Paris (France)

2022 - IDFA Academy, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Awards

2025 - Eurimages Co-production Development Award, VdR Pitching, Nyon (Switzerland)
2023 - from the Goteborg Film Fund at the Launch Pad Pitching (Poland)

2023 - from the Watch Doc Film Festival at the Launch Pad Pitching (Poland)


Markets

2025 - Visions du Reel Pitching, Nyon (Switzerland)

2023 - IDFA Forum, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
2021 - The project has been selected for Ji.hlava New Visions Market, Jihlava (Czech)

Publications

2025 - Variety - Zoya Laktionova’s Mariupol Memoir Wins Big at Visions du Réel’s Industry Awards
2025 - Screen Daily - Ukrainian documentary takes top prize at Visions du Reel industry awards

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     Zoya Laktionova is a filmmaker, editor, visual artist  - was born in Mariupol (Ukraine) in 1984.  She uses moving images, photography, and texts in her works. In her artistic practice, she adopts micro-history, auto-ethnography and creative storytelling to unfold the complexity of greater events.

(c) Zoya Laktionova 2022

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