My Place Ozerna + The Pros and Cons of Killing Yourself

This screening took place on Friday, February 16, 2024 at 12:00 pmYukon Arts Centre

“I don’t want to live, either” confesses Karina to her aunt Slava, triggering a deep search for meaning between two distant relatives.

Karina, a Polish woman looking to escape the urban anxieties of London, is drawn to Ozerna, a small village in Ukraine, where she meets 84-year-old Slava for the first time. Karina’s sense of alienation stokes a lingering depression she is hoping to shake, a feeling Slava can relate to as a long-time widow. Over many years and several visits, the two women grow closer, developing a mutual bond of love and care. Karina helps Slava with her chores while Slava looks after Karina as though she were her granddaughter. Beautifully shot, this tender documentary witnesses the importance of cross-generational connection and a shared re-discovery of vitality and purpose – Vivian Belik, Hot Docs.

In Polish and Ukrainian with English subtitles.

Genre: documentary

Screens with:

THE PROS AND CONS OF KILLING YOURSELF

Dir. Ravi Steve Khajuria, 2023, Ontario, 18 MIN | Comedy | TRAILER

It's a pretty audacious setup - a suicidal oncologist needs to talk her teenage leukemia patient into fighting for his life. In many hands this would be treacly movie of the week material. Ravi Steve spares us that is some very dark humour in the writing - imagine if Dorothy Parker wrote an episode of Gray's Anatomy. With solid production and very strong performances, I'm still not quite sure why we need this movie right now. Oh right. For the laughter! - Tony Berto, ALFF Programming.

Content advisory: themes of suicide.