Private Project

DAD: A Century of Unanswered Questions

The first day of the war. I start a family chat, call my parents, ask how they are doing. And then I see a photo: my dad has opened my bottle of champagne and is drinking to President Zelensky's emergency speech. I feel cold inside when I hear him say: "Putin is great! He did the right thing, what he should have done a long time ago."
"How did it happen that your father was shot by Stalin in 1936, you grew up as the son of an enemy of the people. You changed your surname, spent your childhood in hiding, and now you support the same form of regime that killed my grandfather and destroyed your life?
I watched my father for a year, and how his universe was changing in the midst of the war, because he died suddenly. And standing at his funeral, I decided to download all his memories, all the historical events and create an artificial intelligence, a fully living communicative prototype of my father.
By creating it, I will try to get answers to my questions, to negotiate.
About my father, about his father. I will try to understand the contexts of these tragedies over exactly 100 years

  • Ksenia Oksana Bugrimova
    Writer
    Ksenia Bugrimova
  • Ksenia Bugrimova
    Director
  • Elena ELENA ANDREICHEVA
    Producer
    By 2020 Bafta & Academy Award winner Elena Andreicheva, film "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)"
  • Olga Panteleymonova
    Producer
    "Specs" (2017), "Eastern Sweets" (2016), "The Pleasure Principle" (2019), "Travelers" (2019), "Secret Love" (2019), "Double Stakes" (2022), "Heart Knows" (2023), "Train" (2023), "The Silence" (2021, 2023). She also spearheaded documentary projects on Ukraine in war, like "Iron People" (2022), "Your City's Coffee" (2022), "The Free" (2022), "What Shouldn't Be" (2022), "Save the Pony" (2023), and "SBU: Special Forces" (2023). Full-length films under her guidance include "The Strayed" (2017), "Just Sex, Nothing Personal" (2018), "Heroes" (2022), "Dedication to Eve" (2022), "Pocky Road to Berlin" (2022), "SHTTL" (2023)
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    ТАТО: сто рокIв без вiдповiдi
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Television, Other
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes 19 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    150,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Ukraine
  • Country of Filming:
    Ukraine, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    Albanian
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ksenia Bugrimova

Award-winning producer and Head of Entertainment Programs at STS Media Holding, Ksenia has overseen the adaptation of international franchises like The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, Trip Advisor, Extra Mile Bachelorette, Ukraine Got Talent, and The Four. She has also contributed to locally developed hits such as Extreme Makeover and the multi-award-winning series "Kyiv Day and Night." In her previous role, Ksenia worked closely with major production companies like Warner Brothers, Red Arrow, Sony Entertainment, Banijay, Armoza, and Fox Channel.

In 2013, Ksenia became the General Producer of the Fiction Department at Starlight Media, leading projects like the limited series "The Wishlist," which was successfully launched in over 12+ countries. She has an extensive background as a director, showrunner, and executive producer, having collaborated with STB and Novy channel, and served as a jury member for the Banff Awards.

Despite facing setbacks in 2022, Ksenia relocated to the UK, starting her career anew. Over the past three years, she managed her own production, developed and sold paper formats for shows, collaborated with Sony Entertainment on series development, and directed a feature-length comedy film titled "Rolls" for the Megogo streaming service.

This marks Ksenia's full-length directorial debut after relocating to the UK and rebuilding her career from scratch.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My father born in the USSR still remembers World War II. In May he will be 90 years old, 50 of which he's lived in Ukraine. He had to live his life with the stigma of being the son of an enemy of the people, because his father was shot by Stalin, in 1936. He changed his last name and had to escape persecution by going into hiding and together with his mother left 40 years after his father's death.
Nevertheless he went to maritime school - as they gave him a place to live and a uniform, and made a career on the Communist Party line.
He built river ports, as a manager, and whole neighbourhoods in Ukraine, the city of Cherkasy and Nikolaev, Odesa and Ukrainka.
Caution, fear of an empty refrigerator, an attempt to subdue and control the situation and an explosive nature and his penchant for pranks make him a complex and interesting character. He saw the collapse of ports, witnessed the era of privatisation and the oligarchs. He's watched Russian TV all his life.
His character arc takes a new direction after war breaks outs