The Bright Path

Year
2021
Country
Germany, Ukraine
Duration
55’
Director
Iryna Riabenka
Stanislav was reporting from his native city of Donetsk for various Ukrainian media after part of the Donbas region fell under the control of Russia-backed separatist militants in May 2014. In 2017 Stanislav was taken captive. Most of the time in captivity, of the 962 he was held prisoner, he spent in a prison called ‘Isolation’. Stanislav kept notes about the events that took place at what used to be the territory of the main cultural platform in the region.
CREW:
Director: Iryna Riabenka
Producer: Felix Krumme, Iryna Riabenka
Cinematographer: Hovhannes Martirosyan
Editor: Ilja Gussarov, Universal Language Algorithm
Sound: Felix Krumme, Iryna Riabenka
Awards
Outstanding Excellence Award at Docs Without Borders Film Festival (2021)
Director
Iryna Riabenka
Iryna Riabenka grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine and moved to Germany at the age of 28 to advance her skills in TV journalism and filmmaking. In Germany, she worked at various television broadcasters and gained her first experience in documentary filmmaking. Iryna is currently a student at the TV Journalism & Documentary Film Department of the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and is set to gain her master’s degree in 2022. It will be Iryna’s second master degree – she got her first in Ukraine, where she studied foreign languages. Living in Germany, she went to Ukraine to direct the essay film The Bright Path. This film is Iryna’s directorial debut. Her career goal is to make people analyse current hybrid conflicts with the help of documentary films.
 
Selected Filmography
The Bright Path (2021)
 
22 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
 6 — 13 
June 2025
All Light, Everywhere
STATE OF EMERGENCY
All Light, Everywhere
Year
2021
Country
USA
Director
Theo Anthony
Duration
109’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Infinity According to Florian
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Infinity According to Florian
Year
2022
Country
Ukraine, USA
Director
Oleksiy Radynski
Duration
70’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Balcony Movie
STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Balcony Movie
Year
2021
Country
Poland
Director
Paweł Łoziński
Duration
100’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Mountains and heaven in between
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Mountains and heaven in between
Year
2021
Country
Ukraine
Director
Dmytro Hreshko
Duration
70’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Plai. A Mountain Path
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Plai. A Mountain Path
Year
2021
Country
Ukraine
Director
Eva Dzhyshyashvili
Duration
75’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Tales of a Toy Horse
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Tales of a Toy Horse
Year
2021
Country
Ukraine, Estonia
Directors
Ulyana Osovska, Denis Strashny
Duration
75’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Ivan’s Land
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Ivan’s Land
Year
2020
Country
Ukraine
Director
Andrii Lysetskyi
Duration
85’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Cry my river
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Cry my river
Year
2022
Country
Ukraine
Director
Olesia Morhunets-Isaienko
Duration
80’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
I'm So Sorry
STATE OF EMERGENCY
I'm So Sorry
Year
2021
Country
Hong Kong, France, the Netherlands
Director
Zhao Liang
Duration
96’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Fortuna Valentyn
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Fortuna Valentyn
Year
2021
Country
Germany
Director
Eva Neidlinger
Duration
65’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Boney Piles
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Boney Piles
Year
2022
Country
Ukraine
Director
Taras Tomenko
Duration
80’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
A House Made of Splinters
STATE OF EMERGENCY
A House Made of Splinters
Year
2022
Country
Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine
Director
Simon Lereng Wilmont
Duration
87’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Hamlet Syndrome
STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Hamlet Syndrome
Year
2022
Country
Poland, Germany
Directors
Elwira Niewiera,
Duration
85’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Last Generation
STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Last Generation
Year
2021
Country
Germany, Poland
Director
Mikołaj Borowy
Duration
53’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Mariupolis
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Mariupolis
Year
2016
Country
Lithuania, Germany, France, Ukraine
Director
Mantas Kvedaravičius
Duration
96’
STATE OF EMERGENCY
INVASIONS 1.2.3.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
INVASIONS 1.2.3.
Year
2022
Country
Ukraine
Directors
Alevtina Kakhidze, Piotr Armianovski
STATE OF EMERGENCY