OTTAWA – Most film directors prefer to tell their stories through their cinematic creations and would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it. But a real-time drama, filled with tragedy, conflict and a relatively happy ending, made Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov the unwitting subject of what has become the greatest story of his life, thus far.
Arrested at his home in Symferopol, Crimea, in May 2014, Mr. Sentsov – who three years earlier had released his first feature-length film, “Gamer,” shot at a real computer-game tournament – was charged, in part, with plotting a terrorist attack against railway bridges, power lines and public monuments, and was accused of being a radical right-wing extremist. During his July 2015 trial, speaking from the prisoner’s box, behind bars, Mr. Sentsov claimed the charges against him were “fabricated and political,” based on claims from “two suspects whose testimony was obtained through torture.”