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NOTES OF A TRUE CRIMINAL

by Alexander Rodnyansky

synopsis

After a 31-year hiatus, Alexander Rodnyansky returns to documentary filmmaking with Notes of a True Criminal. Born in Kyiv, Rodnyansky was sentenced in absentia by a Russian court to 8.5 years in prison for his anti-war stance. In his film, Rodnyansky contemplates key events in Ukraine’s history and how they have affected him and his family: the referendum on Ukraine’s independence, the mass execution of Jews at Babyn Yar, and the Soviet authorities’ attempt to erase the memory of this tragedy. Chernobyl, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany, and, of course, the war — the full-scale invasion by the Russian army, which began on 24 February 2022. The author’s narrative is not focused on the events themselves but on people, human destinies, and art. Rodnyansky uses footage from his own documentaries and those of his family members to tell a new and deeply human story.

international title: Notes of a True Criminal
original title: Zapiski Nastoyashego Prestupnika
country: United States, Ukraine
year: 2025
genre: fiction
directed by: Alexander Rodnyansky
film run: 117’
screenplay: Alexander Rodnyansky
cinematography by: Oleksandr Boyko, Vadym Loshak, Denys Melnyk
film editing: Nazim Kadri-Zade
music: Evgueni Galperine
producer: Andriy Alferov, Alexander Rodnyansky
production: AR Content, AR Content (US)

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