Maryna Er Gorbach comes from Kyiv, currently lives in Turkey, although very often visits Ukraine. Together with her husband, Mehmet Bahadir Er,  a Turkish film director, she produced and was co-director of the following 4 feature films: “Black Dogs Barking” (2009), “Sev Beni” (2013), “Omar and us” (2019), and “Klondike” (2022).

Nominated for Oscar “Klondike”, directed by Maryna Er Gorbach, is a Turkish and Ukrainian coproduction.

Synopsis:
“Donbas, 2014. The early days of Russian invasion in Ukraine. Terrifying, moving  picture of people’s desperation, but also their belief in the power of law and hope for better future. We follow the couple expecting their baby whose world has turned upside down. In the middle of a night a part of downed plane (Flight 17 of Malaysia Airlines) knocked down the wall of Irka and Tolik’s house. But instead of running away from the country like their neighbors, they decide to stay and survive in more and more difficult situation. Even when Russian soldiers arrive at their door… Awarded at Sundance and in Berlin, shocking movie which has even stronger impact on the viewers now when it makes them open their eyes  to events taking place internationally. Excellently directed and staged it makes us share all emotions of the main heroes, and final shots are so impressive that we hold our breath.” (translation of the review by Michał Kaczoń, on: nowehoryzonty.pl).

“Klondike” has already won the following awards:

• Berlin International Film Festival 2022 – Prize of the Ecumenical Jury,
• Sundance Film Festival 2022 – Directing Award (World Cinema Dramatic),
• Istanbul International Film Festival 2022 – Golden Tulip, Best Turkish Film of the Year, Best Director of Photography,
• Seattle International Film Festival 2022 – Grand Jury Prize.

Maryna Er Gorbach is an alumnus of Lane Kirkland Scholarship program. As a scholarship holder in 2006-2007, she studied at Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. Her tutor was film director Edward Żebrowski. Prior to that she worked for the “…bach” film production studio.

The objective of launched in 2000 the Lane Kirkland Scholarship program is to share the Polish experiences in transformation and European integration with representatives of East European countries, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia by offering two-semester complementary courses at Polish universities. The program is currently addressed to candidates from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Each year ca. 45 scholarship holders take part in the program. Over the years 2000-2022 the program was completed by 986 people coming from 13 countries, and the biggest group came from Ukraine (540).