Irish documentary Sanatorium selected as Irish entry to Oscars
Congratulations to Gar O'Rourke and Venom Films! SANATORIUM was supported in development by Creative Europe MEDIA.
IFTA announced that the Irish-made, Ukrainian-language film Sanatorium has been selected to represent Ireland in the Oscar® International Feature Film category at the upcoming 98th annual Academy Awards.
Directed by Gar O’Rourke, Sanatorium is a feature documentary from Irish company Venom Films in co-production with Ukrainian company, 2332. It was supported in development by Creative Europe MEDIA's Slate Development funding strand.
Shot on location in Ukraine, Sanatorium takes viewers inside Kuyalnik Sanatorium on the outskirts of Odesa, a vast Soviet-era health retreat where visitors undergo traditional treatments, find community, and navigate a summer like no other - despite the war unfolding around them.
Despite a war close by, mud treatments and electro-therapies continue at Kuyalnik Sanatorium near Odesa in southern Ukraine, where a small group searches for love, healing and happiness.