Ukrainian director mortgages family flat to finance new time-travel film

Four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk mortgaged his family’s Kyiv flat and secured sizable bank loans to launch his new film “Something Strange Happened to Me.” The decision stems from the apartment’s continual exposure to rocket fire, prompting him to redirect the asset’s value into production. Together with executive producer Diana Nazaruk, the team is financing the project through personal capital, limited European Solidarity Fund grants, and private sponsors, while courting partners at Venice’s Gap-Financing Market.

The narrative centers on architecture teacher Svitlana, who, after restoring her home post-occupation, and her neighbor Korniy, a practitioner of unconventional psychological methods, are propelled 100 years into the past. Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk plans to shoot historic scenes on 16mm film to achieve a stark visual contrast with modern digital footage. Production has begun, but post-production funding remains uncertain amid dwindling international attention to Ukraine’s film sector.