Stop Zemlia

Award Winning films from Cornwall Film Festival

Stop Zemlia |  Dir Kateryna Gornostai |  2021  |  Ukraine  |  Comedy/ Drama |  2h 2m

“They say when you get goosebumps, your soul touches your body.”  A coming-of-age drama.

It‘s Masha, Yana and Senia‘s last year of high school. Among the thriving pot plants in the classroom and the background noise of a Biology lesson about stress, the young protagonists grapple with themselves. 16-year-old Masha is the quiet center of Kateryna Gornostai’s feature debut. Steering clear of simplified narratives, the film depicts her as introverted, sensitive, and in love with Sasha, another classmate. When Masha is dancing alone in her room at night, high above the rooftops of a city in Ukraine, nothing about it feels staged. Instead, it feels like an invocation of the moment and genuine emotions.  

Winner of the Berlin International Film Festival - Crystal Bear Awarded by the Berlinale Generation Youth Jury.  

This screening is part of the UK/Ukraine Season: a new programme of cultural activity to support the Ukrainian cultural sector, produced by the British Council and Ukrainian Institute.

Cornwall Film Festival has rated this film 12A.