Clearing some of last year's backlog:
UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL
ДЕНЬ НЕЗАЛЕЖНОСТІ (UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE. AS IT IS)
Watchable. Filmed 6 months 10 days after "День українського добровольця" ("One Day in Ukraine"), reviewed here in the past, Володимир Тихий's (Volodymyr Tykhyy's) new documentary again depicts one day in wartime Ukraine. Shot in several locations all over the country, this film shows how war has become normalised. It's almost boring, but proves unwavering optimism of the nation. And their sense of humour, e.g. a puppy has been named Крим (Crimea). Alarms going off every time the TV tries to honour the Independence Day are a cue that Russians may be indeed listening in.
СХІДНИЙ ФРОНТ (EASTERN FRONT)
Watchable. War paramedics do their best to save dying people but scare and beat cows in a completely mistaken attempt to save them from a quagmire and, even more outrageously, one of them shoots a dog. The dog defends his territory, then shot, runs away and whimpering begs the shooter to spare his life, but is mercilessly murdered - the man does to him what Russians do to Ukrainians. Shaky camera dominates, the documentary is chaotic, protagonists tell stories, which is mixed with action. No way to tell what happens when. No ending indicates the war goes on but the lack of order in the plot lets you catch just snippets of information and it all drags at times. You learn why Russian is spoken in cities and Ukrainian in villages - there was no point in relocating Russians to villages (after the holodomor) and how 8 years of Russian propaganda blocks people from accepting the truth until they see it with their own eyes since they trust nothing anti-Russian they're told.
СМАК СВОБОДИ (TASTE OF FREEDOM) Q&A
The film was shot in 2021 i.e. before the full-scale war, now the title has gained a new meaning. It shows their dreams before and what they want to return to.
One of the actors used to work in a restaurant for real to prepare for this acting job. Alexei Yakutov really has a restaurant and let them in for a day to see. Lots of Ukrainians are interested in cuisine and possess deep knowledge about it. The recipes in the movie are original ones from Ольга Франко (Olga Franko's) book. The book contains 50 recipes for borscht - for the poor and for the rich.
Тетяна Малькова (Tetyana Malkova) (Leosia) has been in Poland for 1.5 years. She has 3 children so came to Poland to protect their psyche. At the start of the war she rang Tomasz Sobczak: "How is Poland?" He immediately responded: "Where shall I take you?" She would take out glass from the ground in front of her block to make a playground for children on arrival. Now she's acting in Polish serial "Na dobre i na złe" so she's working in her profession and she gets to tell the Ukrainians' story in it. In Ukraine, she often ad-libs, here she had to learn Polish by sounds to understand when a Pole ad-libs. Her co-cast would ask her to bring Ukrainian food when she goes there.
The Korean-Ukrainian actor who played Leosia's pal died in the war while helping children in Irpin. YouTube "Culture and War" shows creatives, including the director of "Кiборги" ("Cyborgs"), Олег Сенцов (Oleh Sentsov), even 2 ballet soloists, fighting in the war.
Poles are now tired of talking about the war, while in Ukraine there's no way to hide from it, cinema is such a hideaway. All of them could do with sleep and space to cry. The actress who played Ольга (Olga), Ірма Вітовська (Irma Vitovska), says documentaries are a priority now. "20 Days in Mariupol" is candidating for an Oscar. She foresaw the war but "you can prepare as much as you want but can never be ready". Once when they were filming there were fights in the city, they had to stop filming for 2 hours because of drones. The producer thought at some point: "It's 11:30 p.m., in half an hour there's curfew. How will we go back home? No, we're in Warsaw."
Ukrainian cinema was in stagnation for 20 years after 1994 when it was thwarted by Russia so people stopped going to the cinema.
БЛОК НАГОРОДЖЕНИ КОРОТКОМЕТРАЖНИХ ФІЛЬМІВ (AWARDED SHORT FILM SET)
The set comprised of the 2022 winners:
ROZWIAZANIE (DELIVERY)
Watchable. About psychological violence inflicted on a dependant and feelings and thoughts around surrogacy. A cautionary tale of the risks taken by women deciding to become surrogates or to hire one. Blackouts in the cut halt the otherwise engaging story and make no sense in such a short film.
МАРІЯ (MARY)
Watchable again. Looks staged like in the theatre but the story's shocking. No back story in the film, only in its synopsis.
ІНША НІЧ
Watchable when seen again. This Kharkiv-set documentary basically deals with what people do with obtained information. Thought-provoking, edifying. But not very engaging in the way of story-telling.
ФАЗА (PHASE)
Watchable again. An engaging story of an assumed crime. Slaughtering animals in the background to the main story is disturbing.
ЗЛАМАНЕ
Watchable. An engaging story of returning from war and attempting to live normal lives while the scars are sometimes even physical. Great music. The ending is nothing in particular.
HOMO DEUS. ЛЮДИНА Є БОЖЄСТВЕННОЮ
Watchable. A peculiar story of a weirdo youngster feeling lonely. Lots of fantastic music: "One More Day", "Bounce" by Monotonne.
БЛОК КОРОТКОМЕТРАЖНИХ ФІЛЬМІВ III (SHORT FILM SET III)
The set comprised of 5 short films:
ЯК ЦЕ БУЛО / JAK TO BYLO (AS IT WAS)
Watchable. Youngsters party toasting the Ukrainian army or talk about mines, forbidden under the Geneva Convention, but other than their friend visiting from Berlin, crying on departure knowing she might never see them again, nothing much happens action-wise.
RODZINA
Recommended. A documentary about successful Ukrainian expats going home to protect their close ones after the war outbreak. They explain their motivation. Wonderful and astonishing. Powerful.
THE MONKS
Recommended. In this documentary Ukrainian monks tell about how common ties with Russia were and how the invasion took them by surprise. Graphic descriptions of invaders' determination to kill and of sustained injuries enhance your knowledge of Russian atrocities, The monks' resilience, peace in mind and of mind hit you hard.
СИНІЙ ПТАХ. ПОЕТ. МУЗИКАНТ. РЕЖИСЕР (THE BLUE BIRD. POET. MUSICIAN. DIRECTOR.)
Watchable. The only good thing I can say about this documentary is it's dynamic. Other than that, for the 29 minutes, looking forward to the next film in the set, I kept wondering why somebody shot a documentary about alcoholics living in squalor and imagining what they create is poetry. In fact, it's a chaotic picture of how low humans fall when they succumb to addictions. People run naked in the scenes along the end credits.
The producer was rude and full of herself, her kid, utterly spoilt, was jumping on his seat throughout the film set. Well, like producer like film.
ПЛИН (THE FLOW)
Recommended. Amazing cinematography plays with colours, lights, the outbreak of the war is strangely beautiful. Vivid, evocative images.
Full-length films:
ЖИВІ (THE LIVING) (2008) AND Q&A WITH DIRECTOR
Recommended. A harrowing documentary about the holodomor of 1932/33 with deeply moving survivors' testimonies and the true story of Gareth Jones, the Welsh journalist who tried in vain to pass on the message to the UK. He had got off the train, crossed on foot to Kharkiv region in Ukraine and visited two villages. He was later shot in Manchuria where he was accompanied by a fat Russian driver. Heavy stuff.
The director says films age fast but he hopes his won't. 25 thousand people would die daily, but still in 1934-5 people would die of post-holodomor complications. Where those people died of hunger, Russian settlers were sent in in the 50s. Their descendants now have formed the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics. But in the Kharkiv region Ukrainian is spoken in villages. A psychologist worked with the crew and the protagonists. It was the first time they told about it. Saying: "good bye, we have to leave" was the hardest. All the protagonists are no longer alive. The director saw part of "Obywatel Jones" ("Mr. Jones") and found it very Hollywoody. There's a Museum of Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv. There's also a Canadian documentary "on the holodomor" but with footage taken from the Leningrad blockade.
W UKRAINIE (IN UKRAINE) AND Q&A WITH DOP PIOTR PAWLUS
Recommended. From ironic shots of newsmen to a dog looking at his ruined flat. The documentary sees also packs of dogs, some limping, fed by benevolent people - these are the most powerful shots. People live, have fun. Ruins. Little boys enact war. Nearly no words. But the pictures speak volumes.
DoP/writer/director Piotr Pawlus, 38 years old, would first go with aid, 2-3 weeks later he decided it was historical so he needed to document. He used a pocket-size camera. He made use of two local drivers and one interpreter. When somebody didn't want aid, he'd leave them money. Plenty of most affected people refused bags of food because other villages would need them more. Once at a blockpost they found themselves at point blank when he got off the car to light up (he's a smoker) even though he had the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence accreditation. He went to the front line once and never again. Writer/director Tomasz Wolski didn't want to risk his life. As for life during war, Piotr Pawlus remarks that at WW2 there were also plays in concentration camps. The last scene was shot from the pavement. There was mine danger around the building. Not many people are left in the village close to the Russian border where many packs of dogs live. Locals and volunteers come to feed the dogs. There are also Ukrainian and international organisations specialising in animals. He doesn't like canines. In Leh, India, near Tibet he was attacked by a pack of dogs. His next project is connected with Ukraine - it's due to come out in the spring.
КУЛЬТУРА ПРОТИ ВІЙНИ (CULTURE VS WAR) AND Q&A WITH PROTAGONIST
Watchable. Music, insufficient arrangement of the material, game-like, almost-3D shots detract form the message. Yet the realistic photo stills hit you hard anyway. The photographer couple part is the most orderly. The final part "Калина" ("Kalina") song is moving.
4 novellas out of 6 shot are in the film. Ахтем Сеітаблаєв (Akhtem Seitablayev), who starred in "Haytarma" reviewed here before, directed "Мирний 21" ("Myrnyi-21") and came to the festival with his fiancee, says that whenever he travels Poland, he sees the country as one which has achieved what Ukraine aspires for. He had to learn to walk anew after a spine injury. But in 2022 he had no doubts about joining the army. None of his company in the army likes war. Movies and real life war are drastically different (no smell in films). Russian soldiers either claim that they went training and didn't know they were going to war or that they were forced. He thinks 95% lie. They can take clothes off a killed child and and give it to theirs. Like hundreds of years ago in Poland, Russians were known as "kacapy" ("кацап" meaning "butcher", as the actor explained). He's been shooting only war cinema for 10 years but he thinks that if it happens to him, God wants it. "Cold War" and "Ida" were inspirational to him. Now he and his friend want to make a crazy black comedy. He's Muslim, thinks in Ukrainian but thanks to his family and theatre he speaks Crimean Tatar. "How could I live in Crimea now?!" He's not living there any more, hasn't been there in 9 years, he's allowed to enter but not to leave.
The Moscow Patriarchate over the Orthodox Church was banned on 20 October 2023.
ТИ МЕНЕ ЛЮБИШ? (DO YOU LOVE ME?) AND Q&A WITH DIRECTOR
Watchable. Painstakingly recreated 1990 in Eastern Europe - unpleasant but realistic. A 17-year-old in search for love wherever she sees a chance: she longs to get it from parents, grandparents, men. It shows what matters to young girls the most. This and learning independence, having dreams. Excellent sound and sound effects.
The director's parents divorced, she never ran from home or had a rabbit but she was in an acting school. She's now collecting funds for her new absurd comedy like her first film and "like Ostlund".
Я, НІНА (LUCKY GIRL) AND Q&A WITH PROTAGONIST
Watchable. Top-notch all-body make-up and visual effects kept me through this regular drama about career. The celebrity is a bitch at the beginning. The rest is like in every other cancer movie, with the added nonsense of cutting off an arm because cancer has spread to blood.
Her book sold out in Ukraine, there was a reprint so she decided to make a movie. The original protagonist has both arms, looks healthy and has black hair.
КОЗА НОСТРА. МАМА ЇДЕ (KOZA NOSTRA)
Recommended. A comedy with a script using a mix of tried and tested ideas, where a mafia capo needs to go straight and is surrounded by inept mafiosi, with some elements of a comedy of errors, but also with some not so obvious twists of action and, most of all, an array of wonderful characters. Especially the eponymous mama, acted by superb Ірма Вітовська (Irma Vitovska), is endearing. Shot in Ukraine and Ragusa in Sicily, it's filled with warm colours and good or bad intentions. Wonderfully joyful music plays till the end of the final credits. Fun till the very end.
