''The Guide'' (, ''Povodyr'') is a 2014 Ukrainian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Oles Sanin Oles Hennadiyovych Sanin (; born July 30, 1972, in Kamin-Kashyrskyi) is a Ukrainian film director, actor, cinematographer, producer, musician and sculptor. An Honored Artist of Ukraine (2014); he was also awarded the Alexander Dovzhenko Ukraini ...

. The film stars Stanislav Boklan, Anton Greene,

Jeff Burrell Jeff Burrell is an American-born actor and voice-over artist based in Germany. He has worked under Roman Polanski and Lars von Trier. Early years Burrell was born in Staten Island, New York, in 1968. He studied acting at the High School of Perfo ...

, Iryna Sanina and

Jamala Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova. (born 27 August 1983), known professionally as Jamala,. is a Ukrainian singer. She represented and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song "1944 (song), 1944". In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 ...

. It focuses around a young Peter Shamrock who serves as the guide of a blind bard in

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. Under the Soviet one-party m ...

. There is a special audiodescripted version for blind people. The film was produced by Pronto Film with a budget of about ₴16,762,000, with the Ukrainian State Film Agency financing parts. The film would then go on to make ₴16.6 million, although ₴14.1 million was given back to the Ukrainian State Film Agency, making the true amount at around ₴2.5 million. It was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

87th Academy Awards The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2014 and took place on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 ...

, but was not nominated. There was some controversy over the selection of the film in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

regarding the voting process. Following the

Russian Invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, several cinemas including

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain that operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 5,720 screens in 420 theaters as of December 31, 2024. Founded on August 10, 1989, it ...

began screenings of ''The Guide'' to raise money for relief efforts in Ukraine through the Ukraine Relief Fund. On 13 March 2022, a screening of ''The Guide'' in Salem,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, was attended by the

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician serving as the sixth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 72nd governor of Massa ...

, and

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Seth Moulton Seth Wilbur Moulton (born October 24, 1978) is an American politician and former Marine Corps officer who has been the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 6th congressional district since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, his distr ...

. By 17 March 2022, it was screened across 600 cinemas in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Plot

Set during the early 1930s in

, American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Michael Shamrock arrives in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

with his ten-year-old son, Peter to help "build

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

". He falls in love with an actress Olga, of whom she has another admirer,

Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

Vladimir. However, Michael gets his hands onto secret documents about a planned mass seizure of food by the Soviets. As a result, he is killed whilst boarding a train. Peter then escapes his father's killers by hiding into the car of another train. Peter is then saved by a blind bard (

kobzar A ''kobzar'' ( ; ) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed kobza or bandura. Tradition The professional kobzar tradition was established during the Hetmanate Era around the sixteenth cen ...

) named Ivan Kocherga. With no other chance to survive in a foreign land, Peter becomes Ivan's guide. Meanwhile, Vladimir dedicates himself to find Peter.

Cast

* Stanislav Boklan as Ivan Kocherga *

as Michael Shamrock * Anton Sviatoslav Greene as Peter Shamrock * Oleksandr Kobzar as Comrade Vladimir * Iryna Sanina as Orysia *

as Olga

Reception

Since its release, ''The Guide'' has generated generally favourable reviews. On IMDb, ''The Guide'' has an average rating of 7.7/10.

Awards and nominations

Following the announcement of ''The Guide'' being nominated by the Ukrainian Oscar committee, several individuals left the committee in protest including the head of the Ukrainian Association of Cinematographers, Serhiy Trymbach.

References

External links

*
Official website of THE GUIDE

Povodyr(The Guide) - Pressbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guide (film), The 2014 films 2014 drama films 2010s historical drama films Ukrainian historical drama films Ukrainian-language films Films set in Ukraine Films about the Holodomor Films directed by Oles Sanin Russian-language Ukrainian films English-language Ukrainian films 2010s Ukrainian films