Biography
— Box About Start
Sergey Bukovsky was born in 1960 in Bashkiria, the autonomous republic of the former Soviet Union. That same year, his father, film director Anatoly Bukovsky, and mother, actress Nina Antonova, brought him to Kiev.
“There was always a crowd of guests in our one-room flat; they were my parents’ friends. They would come together to celebrate either the first or the last day of filming, or the presentation of a film to the State Film Committee of the USSR, or dubbing, or additional filming, or the long-awaited start of distribution. My first childhood memories are associated with a trip to Baturin, where my father shot the film “Buryan” (“The Weeds”). I remember the sugary-sweet smell of makeup, the noise of the lighting trucks, and my father shouting, “Action!” I remember crying when a heroine was “killed” and yelling, “Vermin!”
Sergey Bukovsky studied directing in the Film Department at the Karpenko-Karyi Kiev State Institute of Theatrical Arts. After serving in the Soviet Army, he worked at the Ukrainian documentary film studio for more than a decade.
The 20-minute black-and-white film “Tomorrow is a Holiday”, shot in the first years of perestroika, received critical acclaim from the press, the film community, and audiences.
During his 325-year film career, Bukovsky made approximately 40 documentary films. Some of them received awards at prestigious international
film festivals. They include: “Tomorrow is a Holiday” (1987), “Roof” (1990), “Dislocation” (1992), “The
Hyphen” (1992), “To Berlin!” (1995), “Vilen Kalyuta. Real Light” (2000), “Terra
Vermelha. Red Land” (2001), and the 9-part documentary series for television
“War. The Ukrainian Account,” which was awarded the National Taras Shevchenko
Prize of Ukraine in 2004.
“The difficulty in talking about this film (“War. The Ukrainian
Account”) is that it is not only important as a cinematographic or television event…
In Sergey Bukovsky’s film, for the first time, Ukraine acquired its own history
of War World II. The history that was not rolled up into the
ideological asphalt for a military parade… The history that was not hastily-fastened
with white threads of politics… It is a genuine documentary epic, in which history
is presented accurately: as the tragedy of millions of human lives bloodied by the
tornado of war. It is a history of total betrayal. It is a history of a nation
betrayed by its authorities. It is a history of a nation that betrayed its own
past”.
(Anna Sherman, “Telekritika” / 08.11.2002)
From 1998 to 2003, Bukovsky taught courses in documentary directing at the Karpenko-Karyi Kiev State Institute of Theatrical Arts. His student Igor Strembitsky got Palm D’Or in Cannes in 2005 for his short documentary.
— Box About End
— Box About Start
and awards
Experience
As a film director made about
40 documentaries including
- 1982House of Childhood 35 mm, b/w, 10 min, 1982
- 1985Forced March 35 mm, color, 10 min, 1985
- 1987Tomorrow is a Holliday 35 mm, b/w, 20 min, 1987
- 1988The Night was Dark 35 mm, b/w, 30 min, 1988
- 1989Dream 35 mm, color, 55 min, 1989
- 1990Roof 35 mm, color, 20 min, 1990
- 1992Hyphen 35 mm, color, 59 min, 1992
- 1992Dislocation 35 mm, color, 09 min, 1992
- 1993Landscape. Portrait. Still live. 35 mm, color, 20 min, 1993
- 1994Autumn’s Worry BETA SP, 30 min, 1994
- 1995To Berlin! 35 mm, b/w, 29 min, 1995
- 1995Category of Heat BETA SP, 30 min, 1995
- 1996Ten Years of Isolation BETA SP, 35 min, 1996
- 1999Bridge BETA SP, 35 min, 1999
- 2000Vilen Kaljuta. Genuine light BETA SP, 59 min, 2000
- 2001Terra Vermelha (Red Land) 16 mm, 30 min, 2001
- 2002War. Ukrainian account BETA SP, 9 films (26 min each), 2002
- 2004More then love BETA SP, 40 min, 2004
- 2004Dialogues BETA SP, 40 min, 2004
- 2006Spell Your Name 35 mm, 90 min, 2006
- 2007Everyone must die (TV serial) HD, 90 min, 2007
- 2008The Living HD, 75 min, 2008
- 2011Ukraine. Starting Point HD, 75 min, 2011
- 2016Leading Role DCP, 63 min, 2016
Experience
Awards
- 1993Diploma of the Jury IFF Krakow/Poland 1987,1993
- 1992Diploma of the Jury IFF Amsterdam/Netherlands 1992
- 1992Diploma of the Jury IFF Nyon/Switzerland 1992
- 1993Special Diploma of the Film Critics IFF “Message to Men” St-Petersburg/Russia 1993
- 1993Grand Prix IFF Mediawave Gyor/Hungary 1993
- 1987Grand Prix IFF Molodist Kiev/Ukraine 1987
- 1992Prize for the Best Film IFF ARTSalon Potsdam/Germany 1992
- 1990Prize for the Best Short Film “Golden Dove” IFF Lepzig /Germany 1990
- 2004National State Honor Award named by Taras Shevchenko 2004
- 2005Grand Prix Ukrainian National fest ‘Teletriuph”, 2005
- 2016“Zolota Dzyga” for Best Documentary of Ukrainian Film Academy, 2016
- 2016“Zolotyi Diuk” for Best Documentary at Odesa International Film Festival, 2016