Written, Directed, and Produced by Sasha Korbut

U.S. Premiere 2025 Provincetown International Film Festival (Oscar-Qualifying)

Read the announcement on IndieWire.

To Novosibirsk is a 2025 short film written, directed and produced by Sasha Korbut. It explores the complex relationship between a father and son in an expatriate Russian-American family.  The boy knows his parents are getting divorced, but on a beautiful, sunny day in Coney Island, the strong bond between father and son begins to crack when the boy reveals that his mother plans to take him back to her hometown in Novosibirsk, Russia, severing ties with both his father and his American home.

Starring 2025 Lucille Lortel Award Winner Stephen Thomas Ochsner (Our Class) . Introducing Georgii Kirilenko

Cinematography by: Denis Lavnik

Editor: Pedro Rojas

Assistant Director: Lisa Krest

Costume Design by Emmy-award winning costume designer Tom Broeker

This film is a nostalgic and intimate reflection on the pain and wounds that only those who are closest to us can inflict, and an invitation to embrace uncertainty and focus on the ultimate gift: the present moment.

Federico Mallet. Letteboxd.

Director’s Statement

“I set out to make a small film about a big issue—family separation—filming everything in a single day with a modest budget and a team of NYU students and first-time filmmakers.Having lived abroad for 18 years, I’ve witnessed the quiet heartbreak of bicultural families being split across continents. Too often, a parent leaves with the child, fracturing ties not just across borders, but between people. To Novosibirsk is a meditation on love, loss, and the spaces that form when words fail us.”

Sasha Korbut

To Novosibirsk. Teaser Trailer

LETTERBOXD reviews

After seeing Sasha Korbut's beautiful short To Novosibirsk at the Provincetown International Film Festival, I reached out to him with some questions on film and craft.

Even though To Novosibirsk is about heavy subject matter (it left me with a feeling of incoming, heavy separation), there is such simplicity and modesty to the film. Can you talk about the editing process--both the cuts between shots within the film itself and perhaps, the editing / revision process in the writing of the piece?

With To Novosibirsk, I wanted to talk about a complex issue using simple words and actions. Divorce is a tale as old as time—but divorce in a bicultural family adds an extra layer. A kid caught between two parents (in this case, an American father and a Russian mother) is forced to operate in two languages and jump between two cultures. That adds complexity.

I decided to trust my audience, believing they would be mature and wise, so I didn’t feel the need to explain every single detail. That approach is reflected in the editing. The film has five scenes and a total runtime of nine minutes—so roughly two minutes per scene. It’s like catching glimpses into someone else’s life. Like overhearing a couple fighting on the street—you don’t know exactly where they came from or where they’re headed, but just from hearing them, you get a certain sense of what they’re going through in that moment. That was the intention behind the editing of the film.

What was the undertaking of assembling a crew and casting like?

The answer is simple—underneath it all was fear and poverty. After making my first film Incomplete, I was broke AF, and I feared I’d never make another film again—or at least not until I paid off the debt (my bank gave me a five-year deal, so I’ll be paying that credit until 2029).

To overcome the fear of never making another film, I decided to write something short and simple, and to invite people to make the film in one day—for one dollar. Of course, it cost a bit more than a dollar, but you get the gist. You’re just trying to keep creating, no matter what.

If Incomplete had a professional crew with Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated artists, To Novosibirsk was made by first-time filmmakers. We did have one professional actor—Stephen Thomas Ochsner (I wrote the role specifically for him)—and one “celebrity” crew member, Tom Broecker, a notable costume designer for SNL. But the rest were young artists and film students. 

I'm assuming there are some autobiographical elements in the film's storyline. How do you reckon with autobiography in your work?

Believe it or not, there isn’t. To Novosibirsk is not my story—but it came out of me, from my observations of friends, acquaintances, and a deep empathy for families that have been broken apart for personal, political, or simply life reasons. And yet, as much as the film is about separation, it’s also a love letter to fathers—and to all the right and wrong decisions our fathers make throughout their lives. Perhaps that part is personal.

The subject matter and naturalness of the film reminded me of the Dardennes. Are there certain filmmakers or movies you felt you were in conversation with on To Novosibirsk in particular?

Full disclosure—I’ve only seen Two Days, One Night by the Dardennes, but I remember telling myself, I wish I could make a film like that. So maybe, subconsciously, I manifested that in To Novosibirsk. But it was Hit the Road by Panah Panahi and The Return by Andrey Zvyagintsev that was the real inspiration behind the short.

What are some films you have seen recently that you've enjoyed?

We’re only halfway through the year, but I’ve already made my list of favorite films of 2025: TATAMI by Guy Nattiv and Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Twinless by James Sweeney, Blue Sun Palace by Constance Tsang, Love (Oslo Trilogy) by Dag Johan Haugerud, Sad Jokes by Fabian Stumm, and Drowning Dry by Laurynas Bareisa. 

It was really great to see this at the Provincetown Film Festival. It was in a grouping within other short films that were varied in terms of content and style. What was it like to see the film in this grouping in Provincetown, and what was the festival like for you overall?

Provincetown has a special place in my heart—it’s where my directorial debut Incompletepremiered back in 2023, so traveling to the festival this year felt like a homecoming.

I felt lucky to have our film included alongside such strong shorts from all over the world—Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites by Chheangkea Ieng was my favorite of them all.

I think the Provincetown Film Festival is doing a truly great job of bringing in wholehearted, diverse, and engaging films. I honestly believe it’s our American Cannes—just without the red carpet, which makes the festival more accessible, down-to-earth, and, frankly, more inviting for both filmmakers and film lovers.