Director / Screenwriter — Warsaw, Poland

Yuri Semashko

The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov

Berlinale 2025 · Tagesspiegel Readers’ Jury Award

Yuri Semashko

b. 1993, Minsk, Belarus

Yuri Semashko (b. 1993, Minsk, Belarus) is a Belarusian filmmaker based in Poland. A self-taught director working across fiction, animation, and hybrid forms, his short films have screened internationally, including Garbage Head at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (2023).

His debut feature, The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2025, where it received the Tagesspiegel Readers’ Jury Award, before screening at international festivals worldwide.

Upcoming

In development

Feature film — seeking producer

Pointless People

After recently going through a traumatic experience, Sasha travels from Belarus to Warsaw to spend a week with her best friends, Ilya and Alesya, whom she hasn’t seen in several years. But their long-awaited reunion quickly falls apart when Sasha discovers that her friends can no longer stand each other.

Genre

Drama, comedy

Status

First draft of the script. Producer / co-producer needed.

Synopsis

Sasha (27) travels to Warsaw from Belarus for a screening of her animated film. She stays with Ilya (31), an old friend who emigrated two years ago. He now works in an office and spends his free time smoking weed and playing VR games.

Their reunion turns into a nostalgic journey through the city, during which Sasha experiences a severe anxiety attack. These attacks began after the recent arrest of her friend Vanya in Belarus. Tension begins to build between them when Ilya realizes Sasha is trying to convince him to return to Belarus.

That same night, Alesya (27), Sasha’s longtime friend, returns from Berlin. Alesya and Ilya can’t stand each other. The reason for their conflict is a casual sexual encounter on the day of the presidential election and the pregnancy that followed.

Over the course of several days, the relationships within the trio shift repeatedly. Sasha’s attempt to restore old connections leads to a series of both comic and painful situations.

Write about this project →

Films

2021 — 2025

Feature

Feature film — 78 min

The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov

Amid rumours of the impending outbreak of World War III, 25-year-old musician Fedor Ozerov becomes obsessed with searching for his favourite sweater with daisies. He believes that this sweater gives him magical songwriting powers.

Festivals

  • Berlin International Film Festival
  • Jeonju International Film Festival
  • International Film Festival FILMADRID
  • New Horizons IFF
  • Helsinki IFF
  • Leiden IFF
  • Noordelijk Film Festival

Awards

  • Tagesspiegel Readers’ Jury AwardBerlinale
  • Youth Jury AwardFILMADRID
  • Audience AwardFILMADRID
The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov

Trailer

Short films