Stop - Zemlia

Masha, Yana and Ksenia are in the 11th grade; together with the other boys and girls from class they form a tight-knit community. They spend a lot of time together fooling around and having fun at parties. Girls and boys make out whilst playing spin the bottle, sometimes two boys or girls briefly kiss on the lips. In general, love and sex don't really figure; and though Masha might adore Sasha, he doesn't even notice. There is still plenty of time to grow up however and, as such, these youngsters in Kiev barely differ from their contemporaries in Berlin or Paris.

Kateryna Gornostai, a director with roots in documentary filmmaking, selected 25 young people after a casting featuring over 900 boys and girls; previously those chosen did not know one another. The result of a nine-week workshop was not a classic script; in its place the focus was on the creation of an atmosphere conducive to credible everyday situations. The 32-year-old director's close proximity to her protagonists sees the creation of a convincing coming-of-age film fully deserving of the name. The project itself was originally pitched at the connecting cottbus co-production market and was awarded the “Crystal Bear“ at the Berlinale Generation in 2021.