The Other Chelsea (2010)

The film offers a view of post-Soviet reality in eastern Ukraine and the parallel social worlds of Donetsk that took shape after the collapse of the USSR. These worlds are united by patriotism and a love of the local football club, Shakhtar. [Image: Donbas Arena] At the center of the film are football fans divided by social status and lifestyle. Sasha and Stepanovich are two Donetsk miners, while Nikolai Levchenko (Kolya in the film) is the city council secretary. They do not cross paths in their everyday lives, but at Donbas Arena they find themselves on the same side, among the club’s supporters. The only difference is that Levchenko watches the matches from the VIP stand. This social contrast forms the basis of a story about the football club, which won the UEFA Cup and is part of the city’s local identity. During working hours, Nikolai Levchenko chooses curtains for his apartment, comparing them with the curtains at a five-star hotel in Venice, and reflects on how Ukraine’s law-enforcement system protects only the political forces in power. In another scene, Levchenko talks about his links to the construction business, but later denies being a co-owner of a company. Levchenko directly connects his own political position to the decisions of oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, who owns Shakhtar. The situation of ordinary miners is shown in parallel: the workers unanimously vote to approve the sale of the mine and then sign the relevant documents without understanding their contents. The company’s management does not consider it necessary to explain the consequences of the decisions being made to the workers in detail. Stepanovich is critical of representatives of the Party of Regions but supports Viktor Yanukovych, viewing him as a politician capable of establishing order.