Plot synopsis

After a 31-year hiatus, world-renowned producer Alexander Rodnyansky returns to documentary filmmaking with Notes of a True Criminal. Born in Kyiv, Rodnyansky was sentenced in absentia by a Russian court to eight and a half years in prison because of his anti-war stance. In this film, he reflects on major events in Ukrainian history and how they have influenced his life and that of his family: the referendum on Ukrainian independence, the mass execution of Jews in Babyn Yar, Chernobyl, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany, and, of course, the war, the large-scale invasion by the Russian army that began on February 24, 2022. The author's narrative does not focus on the events themselves, but on individuals, human destinies, and art. Rodnyansky uses images from his own documentaries as well as those of his family members to tell a new and deeply human story.
Festival de Carcassonne, 2026

commentaries

A word from the selection committee - Luka Martineau (translated by kinoglaz.fr)
Alexander Rodnyansky, Ukrainian producer of some of Russia's greatest directors (Alexander Sokurov and Andrei Zvyagintsev) and the Wachowski sisters' Cloud Atlas, returns to documentary filmmaking thirty years after his last film, having been convicted in absentia for his anti-war stance in Russia. Here he delivers a monumental fresco on the history of his country, from the First World War to the massacres of Jews in Babi Yar, from the Chernobyl disaster to independence in the 1990s. The viewer is drawn into a jumble of diverse images (archives, excerpts from the director's films, etc.) that tell a very personal story of what it means to belong to the Ukrainian people throughout the 20th century, and perhaps even more so since the Russian invasion. History repeats itself over and over again, and even if peace comes, war will return, again and again. Rodnyansky tells us that living in Ukraine means constantly carrying ghosts with you, those of the past, the present, but also the future.

Selected in the following festivals or events :

- International Political Film Festival, Carcassonne (France), 2026

- Artdocfest / International, Different cities (World), 2026

- Venice International Film Festival, Venice (Italy), 2025

Images