The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul

Building on her powerful debut film, UKRAINE IS NOT A BROTHEL (2013), Australian director Kitty Green’s superbly crafted short documentary creates a mosaic portrait of contemporary Ukrainian society by utilizing the inspired conceit of screen-testing young girls for an imaginary biopic of gold medal–winning Olympic skater Oksana Baiul. These concise, emotionally charged snapshots reveal less about sport than about the lingering wounds of a war-torn nation still struggling to escape decades of oppression, occupation and ingrained sexism. THE FACE OF UKRAINE: CASTING OKSANA BAIUL won a Jury Prize at Sundance and created the innovative formal template for Green’s award-winning feature documentary CASTING JONBENET (2017).