Documentary Predicts Invasion of Ukraine
Back in 2015, I had planned to go to the Sundance Film Festival until a consciousness-training workshop in New York sabotaged my annual trek. In the middle of this heart-opening seminar, I heard news that a documentary I’d been story consulting on won the Grand Jury Prize! I shared the happy news with the group and suppressed my regrets about not being in Park City.
That award-winning film was The Russian Woodpecker, and its director Chad Gracia has just announced a new distribution deal with Espresso Media & Kino Lorber. The re-release is timely. The Russian Woodpecker reveals secrets of the Chernobyl “accident”, explores shades of the Soviet Union, and amazingly “points to an imminent invasion,” according to Gracia.
The film is proving mightily prescient.
If you’re interested in the roots and possible remediation of today’s invasion in Ukraine, you don’t have to watch a downer documentary. The Russian Woodpecker is a thrilling and surprisingly enjoyable character-driven film, “even buoyant in its presentation of several issues that could scarcely be more sobering,” according to the UK’s Espresso Media.
Structurally, it’s been praised as “formerly inventive”. The Guardian called it “a masterly narrative construction”. Watch it twice—once for content, then again to study the storytelling!
So how do you see it?
Garcia (see his testimonial below) told me the film will soon be back on iTunes, and until then you can rent it here for individual use. Enjoy!
“I was very lucky to have come across Karen Everett while in the final stages of editing my film, The Russian Woodpecker. While we had a strong story, there were some structural flaws in the first act that were confusing our viewers. With an eagle eye, Karen was able to diagnose the problem and help with a solution that was simple, yet extremely effective. I highly recommend her services.”
- Chad Gracia, Director
“Rightly singled out by many as one of the more arresting and formally inventive documentaries at Sundance this year…”
– THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“It’s a rollicking ride of masterly narrative construction unlike any other documentary in Sundance.”
– THE GUARDIAN
Gracia says it best. For anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the background to the brutal war in Ukraine, “The Russian Woodpecker” remains a chilling, fascinating and must-see cinematic masterpiece.
