The Rhino of Kyiv
The Ukrainian writer-director Oleh Sentsov will not be at the Venice Film Festival this year; or the one in Sofia, Bulgaria; or the one in Istanbul; or any of the others where his film is premiering. When I met Sentsov in Kyiv, it wasn’t as a filmmaker but rather as a soldier. My train from Lviv arrived late, after curfew, and the police informed me that regardless of my press pass, I would have to sleep in the station. Eventually I was able to hitch a ride to my hotel with the Red Cross, but, in the process of trying to avoid a night on the floor of the station, a friend put me in touch with Sentsov, who was nearby and offered to help. This was how I found myself having breakfast, which I hadn’t yet seen. He was far more interested in talking about the war.
