Mystery of the Keeper

 Synopsis
In the new short film by a young director, the experience of war is embodied in an unusual genre – fantasy. The fate of Ukraine and the world
is in the girls’ hands. Schoolgirl Slava faces trials and acts despite everything. And the
Keeper, who embodies our nature, magical, fragile – and eternally alive, and
therefore invincible. 

Director Bio^

 Elina Myshanych – young actress and director, 14 years old, Kyiv. Studied in Virtual
Club (London Film School), online-lab “Yellow Bus” (Kyiv), Kids Movie Film
School (Kyiv). Author of the four short fiction films and the short doc film, got some festival prizes in Ukraine, Europe, USA and Australia. Elina is an actress in professional
industry, recently she acted the leading teen role in Ukrainian 8-episodes TV-series.
She is in Kyiv now. 

Director Statement if any

Cinema for me is to come up with a story, characters, and then bring it all to life on screen. 

About: 

Previously, I always acted in my short films only myself, but for “Mystery of the Keeper” I
decided to invite other actors and work with them as a director.  

Sasha and Masha, the twins who played Slava’s friends, have been going to the Poglyad Theater Studio with me for six years. We acted in the different plays together. Sasha and
Masha are an actors, they played in TV series and adds.  

I met Masha, who played the antagonist Liza, when we were 8-9 years old on the set of the
series. Masha is an actress, a front girl in the rock band and a director. Recently
she made her first short film and it was screening on some festivals.  

Sasha who played Misha, Slava`s friend, isn’t an actor. He’s my classmate and a friend. I could
invite a boy-actor for this role, but only Sasha seemed very similar to
character of my film.  

I was making “Mystery of the Keeper” a whole year, in autumn, winter, spring and summer. I
didn’t have any budget for filming so I was free and could work for so long. 

But a little secret: I shot autumn and spring in one day in Sasha’s scenes. It was in the
spring and for the autumn scene I collected and saved yellow leaves. 

I played two characters in this short film myself, Slava and the Keeper. So I had to change
clothes on the location for a many times. But I tried to play it so that these
two characters differed not only by clothes. Slava is an ordinary schoolgirl
and the Keeper is a magical creature.  

I think, it`s important to share this story with the young people all over the world. Maybe
the world is tired or documentary from Ukraine, but this fantasy story would
refresh emotions about the war in our country. We still need the help!