In 1890, in one of the villages of Ukrainian Polissia, a man died under mysterious circumstances. The locals blamed his wife, a young healer, and banished her from the village. When affliction came to the village, people believed they had been cursed by the castaway woman. They discovered she was living in the forest, found her and burned her alive as a witch. But before doing it, they sent a priest to have a final conversation with her.
Cinematography
Forest as prison and sanctuary.
Acting
Pustovit's stillness says everything.
Direction
17 minutes, zero fat, eternal dread.
Director
Stanislav Bytiutskyi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ukrainian Polissia's witch trials persisted into the 19th century, long after Western Europe's ended. Bytiutskyi shot on location in the actual region.
The priest's costume is deliberately anachronistic—Bytiutskyi wanted audiences to feel this wasn't safely 'past.'
UA
