Realism without filters, Chernov’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning ’20 Days in Mariupol’ is a devastating war vérité that strips conflict of rhetoric, leaving only attrition, absurdity, and the unbearable weight of patriotic labour carried by ordinary Ukrainian men.
Harrowing but essential, this ground-zero document of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the vantage point of an Associated Press journalist in the besieged city of Mariupol bluntly reminds us of the humanitarian cost of war.
A rare narrative feature from one of the world’s foremost documentarians of Soviet history, this vignette-style dark absurdist satire doesn’t pull its punches from depicting the sorry state of affairs in Russian-occupied Eastern Ukraine.
A couple’s marriage slowly disintegrates as war draws closer in this measuredly-paced drama set in the context of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over separatist-controlled Eastern Ukraine.
Parajanov’s free-wheeling breakthrough film is a remarkable sensorial work that could hardly contain its dizzying energy—a showcase of a filmmaker at the height of his artistic expression.
Part of the massive if controversial ‘DAU’ project, this entry is backed by bold performances by its two actresses even if the film doesn’t quite achieve true power through provocation.
Shot in austere long takes, this post-apocalyptic drama from Ukraine is a cautionary tale on both the psychological and ecological impact of war.
Polished yet brutally raw, this Ukrainian sign language film is an audacious piece of cinema.
Eternality Tan 