Ukrainian-language film Sanatorium to represent Ireland in Oscars international category

Producers said film 'salutes the resilient community of Kuyalnik Sanatorium outside Odessa — where even in the shadow of war, people come to heal, to laugh and to show extraordinary humanity'.

Ukrainian-language film Sanatorium has been selected by the Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta) to represent Ireland in the International Feature Film category at next year's 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

The documentary film, directed by Galway-born filmmaker Gar O'Rourke, is set in Kuyalnik Sanatorium, a crumbling wellness centre near Odessa in Ukraine, where "staff and visitors are determined to have a holiday away from the outside world, a moment in their lives to 'restore' themselves" despite the war raging in the country.