Klondike + Post Screening Discussion

July 2014. Expectant parents Irka and Tolik live in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.  The anticipation of their first child’s birth is violently disrupted as the crash of flight MH17 elevates the tension enveloping their village. While Tolik’s separatist friends expect him to join their efforts to unite with Russia, Irka’s brother is enraged by suspicions that the couple has betrayed Ukraine. Irka refuses to be evacuated even as the village is captured by armed forces. Will the family’s bond be mended before it is too late?

 Klondike premiered at the 2022 edition of Sundance where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition for directing and has been chosen as Ukraine's submission for the 2023 Academy Awards.

 This special screening will take place during the ‘Taste of Anatolia – Films from Turkey’ film festival. Klondike, as a co-production between Ukraine and Turkey, highlights the success that films with Turkish involvement can accomplish and the international reach they can achieve. Films from Turkey cover a multitude of projects, and Klondike is a timely reminder of the importance of collaboration.

 Balık Arts was established in 1999 to work with young people through the arts and film. In 2018, Balık Arts launched a film festival in Cambridge with the specific aim of promoting films from Turkey. There exists limited opportunity to showcase these in the UK but Cambridge, as a cultural and academic hub, was picked by the team as an ideal location.

Consideration is given to those films which reflect the rich varied hues of Anatolian life. The festival also has a special strand called ‘Young Blood’, focusing on films made by young people or where the main protagonists are young.