Rounds

Storyline

When a group of teenage girls – being pursued and searching for a place to hide at school - find shelter in the gym, they finally feel safe - safer than the girl they have tied up and are keeping hostage…

About the film/director

Anna Demianenko is a Ukrainian director and producer based in the Netherlands. Her work focuses on female-driven narratives and socially engaged themes. She directed the award-winning short film KEEP A FIGHT (Ukraine) and the documentary CAGED (Spain), which was acquired by multiple broadcasters and VOD platforms in Spain and France. Her short WINE (2021), supported by the Limburg Film Fund and other Dutch cultural funds, screened at festivals in Canada, Ireland, the USA, India, and the Netherlands. Her latest film, ROUNDS (2024), featuring an all-female cast and shot on analog film, explores the cycle of bullying and revenge and won the Youth Jury Award at Asti Film Festival 2024.
As a producer, she co-produced CONVOI EXCEPTIONNEL (2019), selected for the Debut Competition at the Netherlands Film Festival. Additional co-productions include CROSSING THE BLUE (2022), selected for Go Short and the Tampere Film Festival, THOUGHTS ON PEACE IN AN AIR RAID, selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2024, and UNAVAILABLE, selected for the Orizzonti Short Films International Competition at the Venice International Film Festival 2025.

Director’s statement

This film, based on my personal experiences, wonders what happens if a bullied teenager gets a chance behind closed doors to avenge the bully. Bullying happens not only at school, it is all around us: at home, among friends, at work, at shops, anywhere you go, no matter the origin, colour, social status or sex. We are all victims. Will a teenager forgive or will she lose herself in satisfaction of revenge? This is a vicious circle, teenagers don’t stop, they take revenge, and everything goes in circles, round after round, they change sides, the positions of the one in power and a powerless one. It goes in circles, it goes in ROUNDS. The question is: can someone make it stop?

On this film I worked with all-female cast and opted for non-actresses as I wanted to have a genuine interaction between the characters. I chose for analogue film to give the story the innocence that the topic was lacking. More to that, as a female filmmaker from a Ukrainian male-dominated culture and film industry, it is one of my aims to develop and create female driven stories with an equal female cast and crew balance.

Credits

Director:

Anna Demianenko

Script:

Camera:

Editor:

Cast:

Geneviève Arlaud, Luna Pepels, Mandy Verboeket, Mylaine Beck, Norah van den Hoven, Teuntje Wolters

Sound:

Music:

Production:

Anna Demianenko, Sem Wigman, Toon Hezemans

Contact:

Anna Demianenko

E-Mail:

lagataproductions@gmail.com

• Netherlands

• Dutch / subtitles English
• 2024
• 10 min