Dave Cunningham
As far as I know, 2021 can be the biggest year for foreign filmmakers. First to step up to the plate: Ukraine’s sci-fi movie. Opening in the United States via a digital run alongside New York’s Metrograph Theatre, Valentyn Vasyanovysh’s sci-fi film, Atlantis, is Ukraine’s submission for Best Foreign Film Oscar for this year’s awards ceremony.
Beginning January 22, 2021, Metrograph Theatre will hold an exclusive digital theatrical run, per se, for the 2019 sci-fi film. However, Atlantis doesn’t have a confirmed distribution plan apart from Metrograph. As of the moment, information about its release on streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu are still unknown.
Grasshopper Film has the privilege, though, to distribute the film throughout the United States as it was recently acquired by the company. It is still unknown how Grasshopper Films will be releasing the film––streaming, VOD, etc.
Though still unplanned, Atlantis is a film you wouldn’t want to miss. Set in the post-apocalyptic territory, the Vasyanovych sci-fi film first premiered on the 4th of September, 2019, during the Venice International Film Festival. At Venice, the movie was given the title of Best Film by the judges from the Horizons section. That, alone, gave Atlantis the boost it needed to come to even more foreign lands in 2020.
According to the Metrograph website, here is the summary for the Ukrainian sci-fi film:
Eastern Ukraine, 2025. A desert unsuitable for human habitation. Water is a dear commodity brought by trucks. A wall is being built on the border. Sergiy, a former soldier having trouble adapting to his new reality, meets Katya while she’s on a humanitarian mission dedicated to exhuming the past. Together, they try to return to some sort of normal life in which they are also allowed to fall in love again. A prizewinner at the Venice Film Festival and Ukraine’s official selection for the 2021 Academy Awards, Atlantis is a gorgeous and visionary sci-fi drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg8XH-idB4w&ab_channel=FestivaldeSevilla
