Film SHTTL about history of Jewish settlement in Lviv region presented in Ukraine

A pre-premiere screening of the Ukrainian-French historical drama SHTTL has taken place in Kyiv. The film tells the story of a Jewish settlement in the Lviv region near the border with Poland. The events cover one day on June 21, 1941, on the eve of the Nazi invasion of Ukraine

The State Film Agency of Ukraine reported this on Facebook.

"The movie was created by a truly stellar team. Here you will see great acting, a rare one-shot technology, impeccable work of the cameraman, and a whole Jewish town created by an artist near Kyiv... I would like to thank the producers Jean-Charles Levy and Olias Barco for their well-coordinated work," said Yuriy Artemenko, producer and co-owner of Ukrainian Producers Hub, before the premiere.

"When we made this film in 2021, we realized that it would be a trigger in the future. But we didn't even suspect that it would be so triggering," said Olha Panteleimonova, director and co-owner of Ukrainian Producers Hub.

She added that the story of this movie resonates with what Ukrainians are going through now.

"This includes the events that are currently taking place in Israel. And I know for sure that this movie is timely. It is deep and philosophical, a movie about meanings, about choices in life, about love. And the way this story is revealed in the film is completely relatable to all of us."

Moshe Lobel, the lead actor, emphasized the importance of being able to speak Yiddish. "The Nazis once killed most of the people who spoke Yiddish, and Stalin finished their "work". Yiddish and Ukrainian went through similar experiences, similar repressions. I know that many Ukrainian speakers have had similar experiences to mine with Yiddish, similar challenges and problems with the ability to use their native language. However, I am very happy to be a part of the revival of Yiddish in Ukraine. Long live Yiddish, long live Ukrainian!" the actor said.

The historical drama SHTTL will be released in Ukrainian cinemas on October 26. Ukraine and France worked on the film.