| My Joy | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Serhiy Loznytsya |
| Produced by | Oleh Kokhan |
| Written by | Serhiy Loznytsya |
| Cinematography | Oleg Mutu |
| Editing by | Danielius Kokanauskis |
| Release date(s) | 19 May 2010 (Cannes) |
| Running time | 127 minutes |
| Country | Ukraine |
| Language | Russian |
| Budget | € 1.5 million |
My Joy (Russian: Счастье моё, translit. Schastye moyo; Ukrainian: Щастя моє, translit. Shchastya moye) is a 2010 Ukrainian road movie directed by Sergei Loznitsa. It is set in the western regions of Russia, somewhere near to Smolensk. My Joy was the first Ukrainian film ever to compete for the Palme d'Or.
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The film was a co-production between Germany's Ma.ja.de, Ukraine's Sota Cinema Group and the Netherlands' Lemming Film.[1] The film was shot in Ukraine as a condition for receiving money from the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, but most of the 1.5 million Euro budget came from Germany. According to the director there are about 140 cuts in the whole film. Vlad Ivanov's Russian was dubbed as he is a Romanian actor.[2]
There was a considerable outcry in Russian media over the film's purported Russophobic slant. Film director Karen Shakhnazarov claimed that Loznitsa would like everyone living in Russia to be shot.[3] Another Russian film director, Andrey Zvyagintsev, called My Joy the best Russian-language film of the decade.[4]
Among American reviewers, Manohla Dargis (The New York Times) referred to the movie as "suspenseful, mysterious, at times bitterly funny, consistently moving and filled with images of a Russia haunted both by ghosts and the living dead".[5] A blurb in Sight & Sound advertises My Joy as "Ukraine’s answer to Deliverance".[6] Village Voice (Michael Atkinson) reviewed My Joy as "a maddening vision and one of the year's must-see provocations.[7]
The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in May.[1] At the 7th Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival in July, the film won the Silver Apricot Special Prize.[8]