AWARD-WINNIG DOCUMENTARY
THE HAMLET
SYNDROME
Logline
TO BE OR NOT TO BE IN UKRAINE
THE HAMLET SYNDROME is a powerful portrait of a vibrant young Ukrainian generation, the first one born after the collapse of the Soviet Union, shaped by the Maidan Revolution of 2013, empowered by political change and scarred by war.
Awards & Film Festivals
An Award-Winning Documentary
Full List of Awards
75th Locarno International Film Festival Grand Prix Best Film of Semaine de la Critique 75th Locarno International Film Festival Boccalino d’oro - Independent Critics Award 62nd Krakow Film Festival Best Polish Film 2022 Adelaide International Film Festival, Australia - Best Documentary 2022 Watch Docs Human Rights Film Festival, Poland - Main Award 2022 34th Trieste Film Festival, Italy - Audience Award for Best Documentary 2023 34th Trieste Film Festival, Italy - Transeurope Award 2023 47th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong - Jury Award 2023 15th Millenium Film Festival 2023, Belgium - Special Jury Award for the Most Original and Innovative Film 2023 Roman Brodmann Award for Political Documentary 2022 - Germany
Jury Statements
Jury of the 75th Locarno Film Festival 2022
"This film brilliantly articulates Hamlet's dilemma for the Ukrainian youth. The film mediates their experiences of having to make hard choices when their options are very limited. This because of a grinding war. A very elaborate filmic language forms a universal film“
SYNOPSIS
A few months prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, five young women and men participate in a unique stage production that attempts to relate their war experiences to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. For each of them, the stage is a platform to express their grief and trauma through the famous question, “to be or not to be,” a dilemma that applies to their own lives.
The protagonists fight against disappointment, powerlessness, and anger, trying to put their lives back in order while processing their painful past.The rehearsals for the play are combined with an intense glimpse into the characters’ lives: a powerful portrait of a generation coping with the trauma of war which now, after Russia invades Ukraine, is their present and future alike.
Directed by
ELWIRA NIEWIERA & PIOTR ROSOŁOWSKI
ELWIRA NIEWIERA
Polish director and screenwriter of the well-known documentary films DOMINO EFFECT, THE PRINCE AND THE DYBBUK, and THE HAMLET SYNDROME. Her artistic work focuses primarily on political, social, and cultural transformations in Eastern Europe. Winner of many international awards, among others Grand Prix-Semaine de la Critique for the Best Film at 75th Locarno Film Festival, Best Documentary on Cinema at the 74th Venice Film Festival, Polish Film Academy Award for Best Documentary, Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig Film Festival, Young German Cinema Award 2019 and the Chicken & Egg Award 2021. Elwira is a member of the European Film Academy.
PIOTR ROSOŁOWSKI
Polish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer based in Berlin. He graduated from the Katowice Film School and was awarded an Academy of Media Arts scholarship in Cologne. Piotr co-directed together with Elwira Niewiera already three successful feature documentaries: Domino Effect prized at the Krakow Film Festival and DOK Leipzig, The Prince and the Dybbuk awarded with the Lion for Best Documentary on Cinema at the 74th Venice Film Festival, and The Hamlet Syndrome honored with Grand Prix Semaine de la critique at the 75th Locarno Film Festival. Piotr also works as a director of photography, he shot many awarded feature and short films, among them: On the line dir. Reto Caffi – Academy Award-nominated short fiction, Rabbit a la Berlin dir. Bartek Konopka – Academy Award-nominated short documentary, and The wall of Shadows dir. Eliza Kubarska – nominated for the German Camera Award and honored with the annual prize of the Polish Society of Cinematographers.
