On December 10, Scandinavia House presents a special screening and film talk of Denmark’s official entry for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards: the bold war documentary Viktor, followed by a Q&A with director Olivier Sarbil.
Fusing rigorous reportage with innovative cinematic subjectivity, this bold documentary from veteran war photographer Olivier Sarbil is a uniquely intimate portrait of a Deaf person’s experience of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Photographer and samurai aficionado Viktor lives with his mother in Kharkiv, Ukraine, just 20 miles from the Russian border, when the invasion begins. As a Deaf man denied the opportunity to fight, his military ambitions shift from combat to documenting the war. With striking black-and-white cinematography and distinctive sound design, the film immerses the viewer in Viktor’s powerful journey through air raids, evacuations, and the eerie silences in between.
One of the rare documentaries to premiere in the prestigious Platform program at TIFF, Viktor beautifully weaves black and white imagery with sound design that reflects Viktor’s own experience of the world. Acclaimed filmmaker and veteran war cinematographer Olivier Sarbil (Mosul, On The President’s Orders) brought his unique experience with conflict and single-sided deafness to his relationship with Viktor, creating a close collaboration that is reflected in the personal, intimate story that unfolds on screen. Through his lens, the audience witnesses a raw and intimate engagement with a war-torn world, amplifying both the personal and universal impact of conflict. (Denmark/Ukraine/France/United States of America, 2024)
“A piercing indictment of the ways we’ve made a spectacle of war, particularly how societies have explicitly drawn a connection between participation in violence and a sense of belonging to one’s country.” (Zachary Lee, RogerEbert.com)
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Olivier Sarbil is a multi-award winning French documentary Director and two-time Emmy® winning Cinematographer. Over the past two decades, Olivier has worked extensively in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, on many of the most pressing global conflicts and social issues that the world has faced. In 2011, his life took an unexpected turn when he was severely wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade while documenting the civil war in Libya. His wounds only strengthened his resolve to continue telling stories that further the understanding of the human condition, in all its contradictions.