Apolonia, Apolonia

Winner of the top prize at IDFA, Apolonia, Apolonia is one of last year’s great sensations and a film of rare depth and power. Filmmaker Lea Glob has followed the artist Apolonia Sokol for over 13 years. The result is an extraordinarily up-close and personal film that is both a portrait of a unique artist’s life and the budding friendship and intimacy between two women over a (very) long and formative period in their lives. Just like Glob, who casts a retrospective gaze full of passion and lucidity over the images she accumulated over the course of those years, we are swept away by the devouring energy of the protagonist, as well as her hopes, weaknesses, frustrations, and her struggle for artistic recognition. Sokol’s close friendship with Ukrainian artist and activist Oksana Shachko of the feminist group Femen becomes a dramatic and heartbreaking turning point.

Feature Competition section is supported by Macquarie University