Leleka
Two women, one car and a Bolex camera. A road trip to Ukraine, where the landscape becomes poetry.
Sasha is a Ukrainian sculptor living in Paris who is haunted by absence and the war. Inspired by the death of her grandmother, she creates a sculpture and travels home to honour her memory. Margaux, a Belgian friend, accompanies her, carrying an old Bolex camera. Throughout the journey, dreams and reality collide as Sasha shares diary pages revealing her innermost feelings.
“Leleka” is a road trip from Paris to Okhtyrka in Ukraine. It is a journey of discovery, friendship and mourning (for loved ones and a country) that will soothe you like a lullaby.
Harald Hunter, who previously won an award at Visions du Réel, moves into fiction with this delicate homage, based on conversations with Ukrainian exiles and artists. Using 16 mm film and black-and-white imagery, he creates a meaningful yet enchanting film. The silent road, the faces and the hidden corners draw an oneiric landscape where silence speaks. “Leleka” is a chant, a whispered poem and a sensory journey exploring the impact of war on humanity.
Javier Garcia Puerto
Harald Hutter is a Montreal-born Canadian filmmaker and photographer based in Paris, where he chairs the Film Art department at Paris College of Art. He holds a BA degree in Art History from Concordia University and a MA degree in Film Theory from University College London. He has directed several acclaimed short films - his "Léthé" (2014) winning Best Experimental Short at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. His highly personal feature documentary, "Up the River with Acid" (2023), explores his father's experience with dementia and received significant international recognition. The film won the Grand Prize at the prestigious Cinéma du Réel film festival in Paris and has been screened at other notable festivals, including the Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Filmography:
Up the River with Acid (2023, doc), Leleka (2025)