In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman profiles Ukrainian writer-director Oleh Sentsov, whose film Rhino is appearing at international festivals while he serves in Ukraine’s territorial-defense forces.
Meeting Sentsov in Kyiv, Ackerman explores the collision of art and war, tracing the filmmaker’s path from Russian imprisonment and hunger strike to military service after Russia’s invasion.
Oleh Sentsov, Rhino, and Ukraine
The essay examines Rhino, Sentsov’s film about post-Soviet gangster life, as a lens through which to consider violence, power, trauma, and Ukraine’s struggle against Russia.
War, Cinema, and Storytelling
Ackerman and Sentsov discuss war films, literature, and the challenge of depicting conflict with both a calm head and an unsettled heart.
Until the Victory
At its center, the piece portrays Sentsov as an artist temporarily transformed into a soldier, reflecting Ukraine’s broader determination to speak not of the war’s end, but of victory.