Rostislav Kirpičenko is preparing to shoot his debut fiction feature, bearing the title Spring (Vesna in Ukrainian). The film will focus on the search for dignity amid the horrors of war through an exploration of the sacrifice that lesser-seen human rights defenders make, concentrating on the main character, a 35-year-old Ukrainian priest named Andriy.

The story is set in a southeast Ukrainian town occupied by Russia, where Andriy's church has been transformed into a morgue for murdered Ukrainian civilians. The priest begins to resist the occupation by returning the bodies of the fallen citizens to their families, all the while striking up an unexpected connection with 11-year-old Makarov, who witnesses his acts of defiance.

The drama film will be led by Lithuanian actor Kęstutis Cicėnas, who won the Silver Crane (Lithuania's national film awards) for Best Leading Actor in 2024 for Marija Kavtaradzė's Slow [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Marija Kavtaradze
fiche film], in which he played an asexual sign-language interpreter. The shoot is planned for mid-October through to mid-November 2025 in Lithuania, with an extra week in Ukraine, should the opportunity arise.

The project is a production between Lithuania, Ukraine and France, and will also boast the involvement of Jean Bréhat, perhaps best known for being the producer for Bruno Dumont, as a co-producer. It is set to be staged by Lithuania's Film Jam and France's Makta Films, and co-produced by France's Tessalit Productions and Ukraine's Esse House.

With an approximate total budget of €1.2 million, Spring was also financially supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre (€400,000), the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (€110,000), the Lithuanian tax incentive (€180,000), the Charente department (€50,000) and Lithuanian National Radio and Television, the publicly owned media group LRT (€7,000).

Born in Lithuania, Kirpičenko moved to Ukraine with his family when he was young and spent his childhood years there. He later moved to Paris and studied directing at La Fémis. His most recent work, One, Angarskaia Street, is the young filmmaker's feature-length documentary debut that took Kirpičenko back to Dnipro – where he grew up – ten months after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as he sought to piece together memories his old life. The film will be presented at this year's Cinéma du Réel (see the news).