eng: A cheerleading squad of senior women in red suits.

2024 National competition DOCU/UKRAINE

Ni­ce La­dies

director: Mariia Ponomarova
Netherlands, Ukraine202490’
In original language, available with English subtitles and with audio description (settings in the lower right corner of the video player). The film contains the depiction of war.
In original language, available with English subtitles and with audio description (settings in the lower right corner of the video player). The film contains the depiction of war.
eng: Notification

the film is no longer available

With the recent escalation of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the seemingly unbreakable bond of a vibrant cheerleading team of 50+ year old women called Nice Ladies is challenged. They face impossible choices between motherland and grand motherhood, between staying and leaving. Core team member Sveta flees with her family to the Netherlands, while captain Valia and coach Nadia stay behind in the repeatedly bombed city of Kharkiv. Torn apart, the ladies try to keep contact to hold on to their sanity amid terror, heartbreak, and the plague of Sveta's survivor’s guilt. Will the team be able to reunite, save their sisterhood, and find a common language through the emerging scars of war?

Director:

Mariia Ponomarova

Producer:

Rogier Kramer, Laura Bouwmeester, Alina Gorlova, Maksym Nakonechnyi

Camera:

Sveta Aparina, Niels van Koevorden, Lola Mooij

Sound:

Kamila Wojcik

Production:

Labyrinth film in coproduction with TABOR LTD

Telling the story of this country, its people and the difficult struggle for freedom and independence, Ukrainian documentary filmmakers find extraordinary forms and carefully construct narratives that become not just a dry record of reality, but impressive pictures that are recognizable and understandable to viewers both in Ukraine and abroad.