THE LIGHTS OF KYIV
Serhii Tykhoniuk | 16’ | 2023 | Switzerland
Before her compatriot Serhii Tykhoniuk’s watchful camera, Lisa evokes her hometown, the loss of the keen sense of freedom that she connects with it, its smells… as many fragments of imagination that people forced into exile take with them in their suitcase.
ONE ALOE, ONE FICUS, ONE AVOCADO AND SIX DRACAENAS
Marta Smerechynska | 8’ | 2023 | France, Ukraine
What to take, what to leave? How important are material possessions when you’re trying to save your life? Packages from Ukraine – filled with everything and nothing – wait patiently under a bridge to be found, while a voice stirs memories of frivolous and treasured personal effects, in an apparent heart-breaking farewell letter to Kyiv.
I DID NOT WANT TO MAKE A WAR FILM
Nadiia Parfan | 17’ |2022 | Ukraine
The Ukrainian filmmaker Nadia Parfan was abroad when the Russian attack of Kyiv began. In this personal essay film, she documents her painful return home.
THREE WINDOWS ON SOUTH WEST
Mariia Ponomarova | 8’ | 2022 | Ukraine, Netherlands
Three windows on south west and a balcony on south east are what you can see of Mariia’s apartment on the facade. In three conversations, Mariia reflects on her experiences related to the place of her upbringing in Kyiv and attempts to reclaim the image of her home back.
I STUMBLE EVERY TIME I HEAR FROM KYIV
Dararyna Mamaisur | 17’ | 2022 | Ukraine, Belgium
“I have no words to say” is the phrase one can often hear when the reality of the war is so striking that language seems to be incapable to describe it. While studying in Bruxelles, Daryna Mamaisur is caught up in the russian full-scale invasion of her country. In the springtime, when chestnut trees are blooming at the same time in Brussels and Kyiv, she makes a film capturing that spring in the distance. Keeping a visual correspondence with a friend from Kyiv, she faces the question: while making a film about war, how to speak about the wound that is fresh and ongoing?
WAKING UP IN SILENCE
Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi | 17’ | 2022 | Germany, Ukraine
A former Wehrmacht barracks now serves as a refugee camp for people from Ukraine.
Waking up in silence accompanies the children on their journey, where their own history intertwines with that of the barracks. A moment between past and future, war and silence, departure and arrival, which paints a portrait of Germany’s past and present through the eyes of its young protagonists.