Ukraine. The Life We Live
The session will be presented by Olha Raiter, Ukrainian curator and co-founder of Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art.
Russia provoked war is still going on, Russia is attacking Ukrainian cities and killing civilians every day, but war doesn’t stop life. More than ever it is full of emotions, experiences, and challenges, the momentum creates personal connections, and tries out real life resilience. I was moved by these captivating stories that explore themes of freedom, loss, presence, and the unbroken spirit of the Ukrainians.
Programme
PRESENCE
6 min. Anastasiya Maksymchuk, Portugal-Ukraine, 2020 (Exp)
In March 2020, on the night of my step-father’s death, my mother was next to him in the hospital room, while I was also there, “next” to them both, but via videocall. This film is an artistic research as a part of the autoethnographic study on emotional engagement and sense of mediated presence. The video is created as a part of the ethnographic project “The Paradox of Presence”.
LEOPOLIS NIGHT
26 min. Nikon Romanchenko, Ukraine, 2021 (Fic)
Polia, Solomiia, Mariia play in the local theater. After the spectacle, they meet a guy and walk through the night city together. Polia seems to fall in love with him. In the morning, he will leave the city, and they will not see each other again.
IT IS QUIET HERE
22 min. Olena Podolyanko, Novruz Hіkmet, Ukraine, 2022 (Fic)
A young couple is torn from the world for one long night in a hotel room in a town near the border. That night they agreed not to talk about the war. Completely lost in each other’ s small world, they don’t realize when the morning comes and force them to go back to reality.
PUTLER KAPUT
11 min. Mykyta Lyskov, Ukraine, 2022 (Anim)
After a full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine and escalation of the war, animators from all over the world united to kill Putin! At least on a screen.
KHARKIV MUSIC FEST DID HAPPEN
11 min. Vyacheslav Turyanytsya, Ukraine, 2022 (Fic)
Even despite the terrible events associated with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, people continue to live showing their fortitude. For example, Kharkiv Music Fest did happen.
ANTICIPATION
6 min. Sofia Korotkevych, Ukraine, 2023 (Exp)
Video recording of Lviv streets fixed in a frozen state. Bags filled with sand placed all over the city tell the story of time slowed down during the war.
UKRAINIAN QUEER FIGHTERS FOR FREEDOM
29 min. Angelika Ustymenko, Ukraine, 2022 (Doc)
On February 24 at 6:31 AM my partner called me and said “please don’t panic, but they started bombing Kyiv”. At that moment a new reality started. The reality full of horror and pain. This documentary is about the experiences of Ukrainian queer people during the war.
Total duration: 101 min.