Main programme  

Somewhere in the Carpathians between Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland lies the village of Stuzhytsia. In Ukrainian the name of the village means something like „cold place“. The film tells the stories of three women: the farmer Hanna, the postwoman Maria and the biologist Nelya. In the middle of the mountains, they have to cope with social reality and loneliness. The colder the Carpathian winter gets, the more human warmth the film team finds.

Maksym Melnyk

Born in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, in 1982. After working as a journalist for a regional TV studio, he started studying film direction at Bratislava Academy of performing arts. He continued his studies at Babelsberg Film university Konrad Wolf where he majored in documentary film direction. In 2022 he graduated from the university with his first feature film “Three Women”.

Awards

Leipzig DOK Festival – Best Documentary Audience Award, 2022
Leipzig DOK Festival – Best Documentary DEFA Sponsoring Prize for an Outstanding German Documentary Film, 2022
Duisburg Film Week – Best Film Audience Award, 2022