Revolution. Rivalry. Poison. This is the Ukrainian Election of 2004.
“Orange Winter is more than a mere history lesson. Like Norman Mailer’s non-fiction novel The Armies of the Night…this movie characterizes a body politic as a living thing, and charts its internal changes as if it were the protagonist in a drama.”
- Matt Zoller Seitz, The New York Times
“inspiring…a candid and exciting nonfiction account of a fascinating contemporary popular struggle.”
- Bruce Bennett, New York Sun
“Dovzhenko’s silent masterpiece Earth is invoked as a classic example of Ukrainian revolution… this artistic juxtaposition lends its portrayed events an appropriately mythic tinge.”
- Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine
“has passion to spare…tight and swift”
- New York Magazine
On November 21, 2004 the people of Ukraine were supposed to elect a new president. They had the choice of two candidates: the appointed heir Victor Yanukovich, who was Prime Minister in the government of the very unpopular outgoing president, and Victor Yushchenko, a popular opposition leader. Victor Yanukovich looked like a post-Soviet, pro-Russian politician with a questionable past. Victor Yushchenko was perceived as a pro-Western, pro-European Union candidate. The outgoing president Leonid Kuchma had an important personal stake in this election. For years the opposition had blamed him for various crimes – from corruption to involvement in the murder of an opposition journalist. A hand-picked “heir” was his best chance to secure post-presidential immunity.
The day after the election, the state controlled media declared Victor Yanukovich a winner.
The outraged people of Kiev took to the streets staging the biggest mass protest in post-Soviet history.
Orange Winter documents their revolt.
