“A deaf photographer’s inner world redefines war cinema.”
— Modern Times Review
“VIKTOR is an exquisitely crafted war diary through a unique lens and perspective.”
— Reel News Daily
“But what makes the film so extraordinary is that the ongoing invasion is not the focus but merely backdrop for a window into a truly unique POV on the Russian assault… Grade: A”
— IndieWire
“A truly singular experience, worthy of its adulation.”
— Roger Ebert
“A true triumph of non-fiction filmmaking”
— POV Magazine
“Both haunting and uplifting; it is the representation that Viktor deserves.”
— Loud and Clear Reviews
Viktor, a young Deaf man in Kharkiv, watches warily during the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A fan of samurai films and raised on stories of war, he dreams of becoming a warrior but is repeatedly denied when he tries to enlist. Eager to find purpose, Viktor embarks on a quest to find his place in the midst of a war he cannot hear.
One of the rare documentaries to premiere in the prestigious Platform program at TIFF, VIKTOR beautifully weaves black and white imagery with sound design that reflects Viktor’s own experience of the world. Acclaimed filmmaker and veteran war cinematographer Olivier Sarbil (MOSUL, ON THE PRESIDENT’S ORDERS) brought his unique experience with conflict and single-sided deafness to his relationship with Viktor, creating a close collaboration that is reflected in the personal, intimate story that unfolds on screen.
Shooting ‘Viktor’ was daring and complex. Sarbil operated the camera himself and was the sole sound person, a practice he honed covering conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and around the world. For Viktor, the shoot also required immense bravery and trust. The film’s voiceover is compiled from lengthy diary entries Viktor wrote capturing his firsthand experience of the war.
But the hardest part is getting our film out to the world. We need your support so that we can continue to share the film with global audiences, and, critically, so that we can send Viktor to screenings where his story is being told.
Olivier Sarbil (Director / Cinematographer) is a multi-award winning French documentary Director and Emmy® winning Cinematographer. Over the past decade, Olivier has worked extensively in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, on many of the most pressing global conflicts and social issues that the world has faced. In 2018, Olivier directed the critically acclaimed feature documentary, ON THE PRESIDENT’S ORDERS, which documents the violent war on drugs in the Philippines and garnered an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Documentary. Variety described it as “a wholly cinematic, sensory experience, with straight-ahead reportage electrified by glaring streetlights and a panicked urban wall of sound.” For his previous film, MOSUL, Olivier spent six months embedded with the Iraqi Special Forces fighting ISIS. The resulting documentary provided a searing look at the ongoing conflict and won an Emmy for best cinematography, as well as being nominated for an additional Emmy for best documentary and a BAFTA for cinematography. The Guardian described the film as “an astonishing portrait of urban combat, and a gripping reflection of the universal, eternal truth of warfare”.
Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures (producer, along with Dylan Golden and Brendan Naylor) is a film and television production company based in Chinatown, NYC. Their credits include Aronofsky’s π, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Noah, mother!, The Whale, and Caught Stealing; they also produced Jackie, White Boy Rick, Some Kind of Heaven, Pacified, Catch the Fair One, The Good Nurse, and The Territory. Their TV credits include One Strange Rock, Welcome to Earth, and Limitless for NatGeo, Kindred for FX, and Black Gold for Paramount+. They currently have projects set up at A24, FX, HBO, Netflix, and NatGeo.
Sigrid Dyekjær (producer) heads Real Lava and is the producer of the Oscar nominated film 2020 “The Cave” by Feras Fayyad where she won an Emmy for best producer and won a Peabody Award. She won best producer at Cinema Eye 2020 for “The Cave”, and was nominated for Producers Guild of America. She premiered her documentary film at Sundance 2022 “The Territory” by Alex Pritz, which won 2 Awards, Audience and Jury's special award for Best Craft. The film is produced together with Darren Aronofsky. It was picked up by National Geographic and was shortlisted for the 2023 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. She has produced the Oscar-nominee Hanna Polak’s “Something Better to Come”, which had theatrical release in the US and won more than 80 awards. For this, Sigrid was nominated at the Producers Guild of America Awards 2016 for Outstanding Producer of Documentary.
Atanas Georgiev (editor) is a Macedonian editor and producer, whose credits include Honeyland, which made history as the first film nominated for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film at the 2020 Academy Awards. He was also an editor of The Truffle Hunters, and Against the Tide.
