Thinking about art in these turbulent times is not easy, but, rather than providing just a break from the constant news coming from Ukraine where Russian forces are currently claiming the capture of the city of Kherson, art can open up a dialogue or help us learning more about Ukraine.
To this end, La Biennale di Venezia recently announced it will do whatever is in its power to ensure the National Participation of Ukraine in the 59th International Art Exhibition (23 April - 27 November 2022) and the presence of the artist and his team.
Condemning the military aggression by Russia, La Biennale also stated it will not accept the presence at any of its events of official delegations, institutions or persons tied in any capacity to the Russian government, while it remains close to all those in Russia who are courageously protesting against the war, among them, artists and authors in every discipline, many of whom have been guests of La Biennale in the past.
In solidarity with Ukrainian filmmakers and the people of Ukraine, the Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia, the movie theatres Troisi in Rome, Anteo Palazzo del Cinema in Milan, the Circuito Cinema of the City of Venice and the Italian distributor Wanted, are also organizing three special free screenings in Rome (7 March), in Milan (9 March) and in Venice (10 March) of the film "Reflection" (Vidblysk) by Ukrainian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Valentyn Vasyanovych.
Presented during the 78th Venice Film Festival in 2021, the film is set during the war in Donbass in 2014 and follows the vicissitudes of Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy (Roman Lutskiy).
Captured by Russian military forces in the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine, he witnesses horrifying scenes of humiliation, violence and indifference to human life. After his release, he struggles to return to his everyday life as the horrros he witnessed haunt him and tries to find a new purpose in life by rebuilding his relationship with his 12-year-old daughter and his ex-wife.
The film is based on a true story of torture carried out in secessionist Eastern Ukraine at a former Center for Contemporary Arts and was inspired by a shocking event that happened to the director: one day a pigeon, flying at high speed, crashed against Vasyanovych's window.
"The pattern that was left was both beautiful and horrifying," the director states. "The detailed imprint of the wings, the bloody trace from the impact of the head, feathers that stuck to the glass." Affected by this event, the director's 10-year-old daughter kept on asking him questions about the pigeon to try and understand the concept of death.
"By connecting the comfortable day-to-day life of the capital city with the deadly reality of the war, we establish a high intensity background for a story about children's fears and their first encounters with real death, and highlight the helplessness of adults," Vasyanovych continues. "It is a translucent story about the child's realisation that human life is finite. This is also a story about the responsibilities of adults to loved ones, to themselves, and the whole world in which they fulfil their potential. The child and the adult will help each other to understand this cruel and beautiful world, so similar to the imprint of the pigeon on the glass."
The themes of this film - horror and the inhuman violence of war - were also present in Vasyanovych's earlier film, "Atlantis" (Atlantyda, 2019), set in a very near future in Eastern Ukraine. Winner of the Best Film award in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival 2019, "Atlantis" tells the story of another trauma, with Sergeij, a former soldier suffering from PTSD who tries to adapt to his new reality specialising in retrieving the remains of the dead from the battlefield.
"Reflection" has a strong visual component and features Vasyanovych's trademark static, single-frame shots: quite often the characters are standing in front of glass partitions, glass walls (evoking the tragic incident of the pigeon) or square openings behind their backs, elements that give a sense of depth to the frames and make the characters stand out.
The story of "Reflection" now resonates even more in the current situation: in the film human beings are incapable of understanding the meaning and importance of life and seem to keep on crashing against walls, like the pigeon that fatally crashed in a window, inspiring the director.
The current situation in Ukraine will certainly inspire more stories to Vasyanovych, but also to other artists and directors such as Alina Gorlova.
The Ukrainian director's documentaries often focus on the effects of war: her second documentary, "No Obvious Signs" (2018), for example, tells the story of a female Ukrainian soldier who undergoes rehabilitation for post-traumatic stress.
Her latest documentary "This Rain Will Never Stop" (2020), follows instead the dramatic situation in Donbass, from the point of view of Andriy, a Kurdish volunteer with the Red Cross.
After the sudden death of his father, Andriy decides to accompany the body back to Syria. Andriy's journeys are interspersed with footage of humanitarian relief efforts, displays of military strength, festive gatherings, and images of everyday life in striking black-and-white cinematography.
Gorlova has just been awarded the Images of Courage 2022 prize at the Pordenone Docs Fest for her works about the war in Donbass. This year festival will dedicate to Ukraine one of its sections and will also screen Gorlova's documentaries.
Gorlova was invited to be part of the jury of the festival in April, but she decided to remain in Kyiv and help the local people by raising funds through social media. You can check out her Facebook page to keep updated with her and get the bank details to send donations.
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