MetFilm Sales scores European PSB deals for CPH:DOX international competition prospect Sanatorium

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The interior of the Kuyalnyk Sanatorium

BBC Storyville is among a raft of European broadcasters that have boarded a feature-length doc exploring the characters at a wellness centre in Odesa, who attend despite the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. 

Sanatorium (1 x 90 minutes) is the debut feature from Irish director Gar O’Rourke and is co-produced by Dublin-based Venom Films and Ukrainian outfit 2332. 

Shot on location, the feature takes viewers inside the Kuyalnyk Sanatorium, located on the outskirts of Odesa on the southern coast of Ukraine. Every summer, despite the brutal war raging around them, visitors flock to the brutalist-style, Soviet-era treatment centre to take advantage of the therapeutic treatments, laser and electro-shock therapies on offer. 

The main attractions for the committed clientele are treatments with Kuyalnyk’s mysterious mud, said to cure infertility, chronic ailments and a myriad of other health problems.  

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Sanatorium has sold across Europe

However, it quickly becomes clear the thing sought by guests and staff above all is happiness and love, with the film delivering a striking and deeply human portrait of resilience, longing, and the pursuit of solace in an uncertain world. 

The film is funded by Screen Ireland, Creative Europe, distributor MetFilm Sales and BBC Storyville and France Télévisions, which has acquired the doc for the UK and France respectively. 

MetFilm, part of Met Film Group, has also secured sales to European PSBs SVT in Sweden and VPRO in the Netherlands, with further deals to follow. 

Venom’s co-founders Andrew Freedman and Ken Wardrop produced the film, alongside Samantha Corr. The exec producers are Tessa Louise-Salomé and Luc Sorrel for Petite Maison Production, Screen Ireland’s Greg Martin, BBC Storyville’s Emma Hindley and MetFilm Sales’ Zak Brilliant. The cinematographer is Denys Melnyk and the editor is John Murphy. 

Sanatorium was one of twelve shortlisted for the DOX:AWARD international main competition at CPH:DOX (Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival), which ended over the weekend and where it had its world premiere. 

The film joins a roster of international documentaries on Storyville’s slate, including Your Fat Friend, Black Box Diaries and 26.2 to Life: Inside the San Quentin Prison Marathon, which were announced in January.