By Anne Ehart
The ongoing violence in Eastern Ukraine has given Ukrainian filmmakers a whole new field of content to tackle. Documentary and creative films alike, the last three years since the 2014 uprising have seen a wave of films about the struggle of war, both on the frontlines and for families at home.
The Ukrainian Museum in the East Village presented a film festival of independent Ukrainian films this past weekend.
“Film provides a way for people to digest and reflect, or escape the climate of conflict in Ukraine, and plays an important role in the social fabric of a country,” said curator of Friday night’s series of short films Damian Kolodiy.
“Be Back,” directed by Andriy Kyryllov, is a five minute, yet infinitely powerful monologue of a girl missing her boyfriend who is fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
There is a wealth of significance behind the short film, Kyryllov’s first as a director. Previously an actor, Kyryllov said he stopped his acting career because there was nothing but Russian influenced roles.
“When I was an actor, I can really remember the moment when Russia and Putin started putting out Russian military oriented films,” said Kyryllov. “They started to shoot in Ukraine, and every movie and serious role was 50/50 with Russia, with the money and with the actors.”
“That’s really why I stopped my acting career. There was nothing except these kinds of scripts, with Russian police or military,” said Kyryllov.
“There are certainly people who want to respond by making their own content and combat the lies that are coming out of Moscow,” said Kolodiy, speaking about Ukrainian directors creating their own films about war.
Russia has had a hold on Ukrainian media, twisting news in their favor or releasing fake news. Film is no exception to what Russia wants to influence, to portray the war with Ukraine through their eyes.
In a Q&A session Friday night after the showing of his film at the UMFF, Kyryllov spoke about Russia trying to spinning the meaning of the film after it gained traction on social media. Their interpretation was that the girl wanted the war to end and her boyfriend to come home because Ukraine should not be resisting Russia in the first place.