On December 1st, a comedy premiered in Ukrainian theaters. It brought to the audience not only landscapes of the Carpathian Mountains and sunny Italy but also an opportunity to fully enjoy the comedic talent of the unsurpassed Ukrainian actress Irma Vitovska. On December 7th, a special screening of Koza Nostra took place in Kyiv. The film is still in the cinema, so hurry up to get your lucky ticket.
Ukrainian celebrities come to support the creators of the film. For example, there were Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, the frontman of Okean Elzy band, Kateryna Pavlenko, the leader of Go_A band, actors Natalya Vasko, Natalya Sumska, Oleksand Bodnar, producer and scriptwriter Olexo Gladushevskyy, directors Taras Tomenko and Volodymyr Tykhy, producer Taras Bosak, poet and publisher Ivan Malkovych, writer Andrii Kokotuha.
Actors Antonyna Khyzniak, Nazar Zadniprovsky, Yuriy Gorbunov, Oleh Stalchuk, and Dmytro Havrylov, who dubbed the Italian character, were also present at the screening.
The audience laughed heartily, and the film's credits were accompanied by loud applause.
Photos from the screening: https://fex.net/ru/s/77ooaka
Vlada Koza, the main character of the film, sells her house in the Carpathians and flies to sunny Sicily to live with her daughter, helping to take care of her grandson. But it turns out that no one expected the arrival of the mother... After a confrontation with her daughter, Vlada accidentally finds herself at the villa of the once-powerful Italian mafioso don Fredo. He’s a widower who is going through deep crises – personal, family, and financial. Vlada is hired as a cleaner for his home, but then becomes the savior of it: a mommy to Don Fredo's children and a reformer of the old-styled inefficient, and, above all, inhumane mafia.
“I hope that you managed to forget, at least for a while, of the times in which we live. I didn’t think that the premiere will happen now, but I feel somehow that this is the very best time for it. It’s kind of a therapy. The first screening took place in Ivano-Frankivsk, and there were many internally displaced persons. They thanked me and said they felt a little better. These are such childish emotions. As for me, this movie is naïve, and that’s exactly what we need today. It has a very topical message: it’s great when a family gathers together,” – comments Irma Vitovska.
She also shared some interesting stories from the filming. In one of the scenes at the local market, real Italian merchants were filmed. In between filming, they shouted “Viva Ukraina!”. An Italian actress of Ukrainian origin, Yuliia Sobol, performed Vlada’s daughter Maria. In both versions of the comedy, the Italian and the Ukrainian ones, there are local dialects. In Ukrainian, it’s Hutsul dialect (because Vlada is from Verkhovyna in the Carpathians), and in Italian, it’s Sicilian, as the action takes place mostly on the island, and the vast majority of actors are from Sicily.
“They say that in dark times you can see bright people better. This is exactly about Irma Vitovska. Koza Nostra is a very easygoing film with Irma's unique humor. It is one hour and forty minutes of light. And everyone needs light today, from all sources,” – shared his impressions after the screening Sviatoslav Vakarchuk.
“Thank you, Irma and friendly Italy, for this movie! It’s a comforting, light, and truly relaxing one,” – says actress Natalya Vasko.
“Cinema exists during a war. The war makes it difficult to film. But the cinema brings the victory closer. And if there’s the Ukrainian cinema, the victory will be definitely ours,” – comments writer Andrii Kokotuha.
Koza Nostra is the first Ukrainian comedy that has had a nationwide release since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion. The film about the adventures of a brave, tough, and a bit crazy Ukrainian woman is available in all cinema halls that work in Ukraine.
General media partner in Ukraine – 1+1 TV channel.
Media partners: Ukrainky online media and Marie Claire – a magazine for women and about women.
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WfkIbL8BFk&ab_channel=FILM.UAGroup
Follow the project’s news on FILM.UA Distribution social media: Facebook and Instagram.
The film is produced by FILM UA Production (Ukraine), Pepito Produzioni, and Rai Cinema (Italy) with the support f the Ukrainian State Film Agency.
FYI
Title: Koza Nostra
Release date: 1.12.2022 (Ukraine)
Genre: comedy
Prosuction: FILM UA Production (Ukraine), Pepito Produzioni and Rai Cinema (Italy) with the support f the Ukrainian State Film Agency
Distributors: FILM.UA Distribution and Kinomania
Director: Giovanni Dota
Story by: Anastasiia Lodkina
Scriptwriters: Anastasiia Lodkina, Matteo Visconti, Giovanni Dota, Giulia Magda Martinez
Prosucers: Kateryna Vyshnevska, Maria Grazia Saccà, Victor Mirsky, Agostino Saccà
Executive producers: Giuseppe Giglietti, Elisabetta Trautteur, Serhii Demydov
DOP: Andrea Benjamin Manenti, Carlo Rinaldi
Cast: Irma Vitovska (Vlada Kosa), Giovanni Calcagno (Fredo Lagana), Giuditta Vasile (Francesca Lagana), Lorenzo Scalzo (Luca Lagana), Gabriele Cicirello (Gianni Lagana), Yuliia Sobol (Maria Spatolini-Koza)
Synopsis:
When Vlada Koza, a mature Ukrainian woman, intrusive and caring, becomes a grandmother for the first time, she drops everything and travels to Sicily from her home in the Carpathian Mountains to join her daughter... without warning!
But the girl does not appreciate her mother's suffocating attention, so she puts her at the door without much hesitation. Thus, Vlada finds herself alone and penniless in the Sicilian hinterland. An unexpected car accident makes her become the unlikely governess of Don Fredo, boss of the Laganàs: a dysfunctional mafia family struggling to survive in the modern world.
The irrepressible intrusiveness of Vlada, who loves feeling useful, taking care of others, fixing things and giving advice, seems to bring a hint of palpable well-being within the walls of Villa Laganà...
At least until the day she finds out who Don Fredo and his children really are!
