Freefilmers

The film consists of 14 fragments, which focus on intersections of dramatic events in the history of Ukraine in 2014-2016, and specifically in the history of the city of Mariupol, and personal experiences of the filmmaker. The beginning. Water. Music. Jokes. Monuments. Events. Buenos Aires. A tree. Talking to God. Film. A trap for nearly everyone. Walls of Joy. All I think is fire. The end.

In the spring of 2022, the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was surrounded by Russian troops. They were using the weapons of mass destruction against the civilian population every day. In mid-March volunteers started evacuating people from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. They gathered after each trip to exchange the information, support each other, and talk about their traumatic experiences.

Road movie on the road. Sashko Protyah and Diana Berg are going to explore the Kherson region, trying to find a new understanding travels, creativity, experience.

The film researches problems and possibilities of building a cultural dialogue in Eastern Ukrainian cities. The film crew analyzes the multicultural history of the region, difficulties in cultural self-realization and attempts to make the dialogue more efficient. The film doesn't give the exact answers, but tries to create space for unbiased discussion about the culture of the East of Ukraine.

Ihor works from home in a taxi answering service. He seems to be imprisoned in his room in a depressing apartment block opposite the pompous Orthodox cathedral. To escape the hopelessness, Ihor tries to interpret his precarious daily life as creatively as possible. Growing sunflowers on his balcony and creating rotoscoping animation on an out-of-date black&white printer become important rituals of resistance.

Life of the vandal Danil in 26 arborglyphs (graffiti on the bark of trees).

The film crew of the Creative East project is travelling around the Eastern Ukrainian cities researching abandoned areas and buildings. The people they meet offer different perspectives on the problem. Apart from revitalizing abandoned buildings (skate-park Druzhba in Lysychansk), you can also use them for temporarty art interventions (rave parties in the former industrial park in Kostyantynivka) or just leave them as they are (Soviet summer camps on the Azov coast).

Life of Mariupol vandals in 29 arborglyphs (graffiti on the bark of the trees).

The film is edited, the audio description of the forgotten sound of the film is recorded. Half a year (I thought to myself that it should be) I check potential festivals. Is this a movie about the love of mountains or not? Is it virtual reality about the feeling of freedom or not? Is this a film about cross-border friendship of Central European peoples or not? Is this a movie-musical about finding yourself or not? Is this a film about the problems of the lgbt community in the Carpathian region named after Andy Warhol, or not? Is this a film that promotes silent film values ​​or not? Is this a short experimental debut film of a young director about challenging stereotypes or not? Is it an innovative film that does not fit into the box and will be shown at six festivals and fairs in the most beautiful places of the wine tourism region or not? After an extremely successful development, pre-production, production, post-production and festival history, the film is posted online.

Residents of Mariupol talk about looting in shops during the siege and capture of the city by russian troops in March 2022.

Director returns to her native city and tells a story of her adulting in Cosmos - a neighborhood in Zaporizhzhia. She tries to define what Cosmos means to her. Is it a self-sufficient universe or traumatic experience, a neighborhood or sensation?

In the backyard of the house is a giant crater, caused by a Russian missile. The hole is like the silenced family history—throbbing and refusing to heal.