Born in Simferopool, in the region of Crimea, Ukraine, in 1976. Gamer (2011), his first feature film, was screened at the 36th Mostra. In 2014, Sentsov was condemned to a 20 year sentence, accused of terrorism. He protested against the unification of Crimea and Russia. In jail, he made a hunger strike in 2018, becoming one of the most famous Russia’s political prisoners. After many protests held by film institutions around the world, Sentsov was released in September, 2019.
