SANATORIUM

Ireland, Ukraine | 2025 | 90 min | col.| Ukrainian, Russian

On the outskirts of Odessa, Ukraine, stands the Kuyalnyk Sanatorium, a large building from the 1970’s part hotel and part medical centre. Thousands of Ukrainians spend the summer there every year, attracted by the prospect of relaxing on the shores of the salt lake and the miraculous properties of the black mud, said to heal infertility, physical disabilities, and other conditions. The air bombings echoing in the distance do not infringe upon the quiet of the place nor on its daily routine, which plays out imperturbably. Conceived during the pandemic, the debut film by Irish filmmaker Gal O’Rourke changed course when the war broke out. While, initially, the focus was on a time of forced peace and a chance to rethink one’s life – and plant the seeds for a possible regeneration in the meantime – the Russian invasion shifted the emphasis onto the resilience that has always characterised the site and those who keep on living there in spite of the imminent danger. (A.S.)