Hardly Even Otherwise (I chyba nigdy nie jest inaczej)
Directed by Alexander Denysenko
Poland, Ukraine · 2013 · 5 min 34 sec · Drama
Submitted to RTV International Film Festival 2026Synopsis
Bukovina, a Carpathian province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on the eve of the First World War. Andrzej slips into the hayloft with the girl he loves, while his younger brother is supposed to keep watch. Then the girl's father walks into the dark barn with a lantern and an axe, and he is Andrzej's own godfather. One lie, one look in the eye, and a boy who watches it all and learns.
About the film
Some lessons are taught in a single night. In the dark of a barn, a boy learns how the adult world works: desire, fear, and a lie told straight into a man's eyes. The title says the rest: in this world it is hardly ever otherwise. This is how one generation of men passes its codes to the next. Produced by Wajda Studio, the Warsaw film studio founded by Andrzej Wajda, the film adapts a scene from the cult novel of the same name by the Ukrainian writer Maria Matios. The father is played by Cezary Kosiński (The Pianist).
Director(s)
Alexander Denysenko is a Ukrainian-Polish film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films explore the moment when a person chooses between someone else's script for their life and their own voice. A protégé of Academy Award-winning director Andrzej Wajda, he worked under his artistic guidance and as assistant director on the master's final film, Afterimage (2016), and works under the mentorship of Academy Award nominee Sławomir Idziak. He is a member of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP) and the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine. His films have been selected for over 150 international film festivals in 35 countries; his music film Before the Dawn was named Best European Independent Music Video at ÉCU (Paris, 2025). He teaches film at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, where he is a PhD candidate.
Official link
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RTV International Film Festival — Inaugural Online Edition · 2026