107 Mothers

A young mother, imprisoned for a crime of passion, must navigate the harsh reality of raising her child behind bars – until the day comes when she must decide his future without her.

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Dafilms

Original title: Cenzorka
Other titles: 107 matek (CZ), Цензорка (UA)
Genre: Drama, Docudrama
Length: 93 minutes
Copyright: 2021
Production countries: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine
World sales: Films Boutique
Distribution:Punkchart films
Release: October, 2021

Synopsis

Lesya has committed a crime of passion which brings her a seven-year sentence in one of Odessa’s women’s correctional facilities. She has just given birth to her first child, and now she is entering a world populated only by women: inmates, nurses and wardens, women of all ages, wives and widows, daughters, sisters, pregnant women, and women with children. If not for the colour of the uniform, it would sometimes be hard to tell who is who.

Credits

Director: Peter Kerekes
Story: Ivan Ostrochovský
Screenplay: Peter Kerekes, Ivan Ostrochovský
DOP: Martin Kollár
Editor: Martin Piga, Thomas Ernst
Sound: Tobiáš Potočný
Music: Lucia Chuťková
Costume Design: Katarína Hollá, Polina Karcheva
Production: Punkchart Films (Slovakia)
Producer: Ivan Ostrochovský
Cast:
Maryna Klimova as Lesya
Iryna Kiryazeva as Iryna
Lyubov Vasylyna as Nadia
Vyacheslav Vygovskyi as Kolya
Oleksandr Mykhailov as Sasha
Irina Tokarchuk as the murdered husband’s mother
Raisa Roman as Iryna’s mother

Support

Czech Film Fund, Eurimages, Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Culture of Ukraine

World premiere

1 September 2021, 78th Venice International Film Festival (Orizzonti section)

Festivals

Nominees

European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI, European Film Awards 2022

Awards

Best Screenplay, Orizzonti section, Venice International Film Festival 2021
Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Leading Actress, Sun in a Net Awards 2022 (Slovak Film and Television Academy)
Flèche de Cristal (Best Film), Les Arcs European Film Festival 2021
Silver Hugo for Best Director, Chicago International Film Festival 2021
Best Film, FilmFestival Cottbus 2021
Best film at International Crime and Punishment FF, Istanbul 2021
Best film Solidarity Tel Aviv Human Rights FF, Tel Aviv, 2021
Best Film, Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films 2021
Best script at Cairo IFF, Egypt, 2021
Best international director at IFF Pune, India, 2022
Best Film, Cinedays Festival of European Cinema 2022
Audience Award, New Horizons International Film Festival 2022

Media

VARIETY

„An unusual and rewarding docufiction feature woven from the firsthand stories of multiple Odessa prisoners, executed with a blend of close-to-the-bone realism and heightened formal refinement.”
— Guy Lodge, Variety
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THE FILM EXPERIENCE

„107 Mothers isn’t ‚easy‘ in its characters or themes, but it’s a surprisingly gripping watch, even entertaining.“
— Nathaniel Rogers, The Film Experience
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CINEUROPA

„Peter Kerekes takes a look at mothers behind bars, crossing the boundary between reality and fiction so often that there is no boundary any more.“ — Marta Bałaga, Cineuropa
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PRISONMOVIES

„107 Mothers is an understated film, with powerful visual images, much silence and much sadness… quietly powerful and sobering.“
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CINEMAVIEW

„If you have the chance, go see 107 Mothers in the cinema. It’s an exceptional work that may not appeal to everyone, but it undoubtedly ranks among the best that Slovak cinema has produced in recent years.“ — Ján Janočko, CinemaView.sk
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FILM IS A FINE AFFAIR

“It has an empathetic and humane eye to all of its characters, as a tender family member embraces their children.” — Vassilis Kroustallis, Film Is A Fine Affair
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CAHIERS DU CINÉMA

„Awarded for its screenplay in Venice (Orizzonti), Kerekes could have, if it existed, also received a prize for his method—one that progresses through constant interplay between reality and writing, observation and composition. The film’s cohesion owes much to attentive and precise work that avoids the clichés of prison films by involving real inmates and guards, who witness their penitentiary turned into a film set.“ — Romain Lefebvre, Cahiers du Cinéma
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