Sergei Loznitsa, a Ukrainian film director, arrives at the Cannes Film Festival this week with his latest documentary film “The Invasion.” He is afraid that people have been slow to respond to what has been happening in Ukraine for more than two years now since its brutal and unjustified invasion by Russia. The premiere takes place on May 16 during a special screening.
Nevertheless, from the movie’s strong opening scene observes a funeral procession for four military men killed in battle, Loznitsa confirms to us that the war still does not let go of its victims. And he reminds us again that whether the global gaze is turned toward them or not, his compatriots will keep fighting for their liberty.
According to the director,” You can see resistance and hate of enemy side by side with sufferings and traumas which are unbearable to any human being living in Ukraine”. “It becomes apparent that these people cannot be destroyed. They will never give up.”
“The Invasion” sees Loznitsa returning to Cannes two years after premiering “The Natural History of Destruction,” an archive documentary about the devastation wrought by aerial bombing in World War II. However, this time around he wanted it to be different. It was born as “successive parts of breaking news” according to him as it revealed some episodes from daily life all over Ukraine just after Russia had invaded this country. Here’s an exclusive look at the trailer:
Filming began on Aug. 24, 2022 – exactly six months since Russian forces swept into the country – and was shot on location in Kyiv and throughout Ukraine by small crews each consisting of a cameraman, camera assistant, and sound recordist. In contrast, this time around Loznitsa was based in Vilnius where he worked alongside sound designer editing dispatches sent through.
Parallel methods were used during the production of the critically acclaimed “Maidan”, Loznitsa’s documentary film about Ukraine’s 2014 revolution, and “The Invasion” is a “continuation” of that. The director explains that he is working on the third part of a trilogy, which takes in over a decade of Ukrainian people “fighting for the independence”.
However, despite its title “The Invasion” does not resemble any other war movie. No Russian invasion forces are seen on screen. Loznitsa decided from the very beginning that he would not be showing his enemies or scenes of battles in this film. “As far as I’m concerned, in every episode of the film, the invisible presence of the enemy and the presence of war and the presence of destruction and danger is felt very strongly.”
This year’s Cannes Film Festival kicks off just days after the U.S. announced a $400 million boost in military aid for Ukraine, part of a $60 billion aid package passed by Congress last month after a long and contentious partisan struggle. However, Loznitsa still believes that there has been no complete realization yet among world leaders regarding what awful consequences Russian president Vladimir Putin’s offensive against his own country might lead to.
“It seems to me that the civilized world is under threat because of Russia’s acts in Ukraine rather than the war between Russia and Ukraine,” he says. “Russia goes against the civilized world in Ukraine. These countries are fighting with it.”
“However, for most Western leaders, this doesn’t appear to be a war,” he states. “Today, they help Ukraine up to the borders but not enough to make sure this won’t spread.”
European leaders have been debating measures to shore up the continent’s defenses in the face of possible Russian aggression; Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently warned that Europe is in a “pre-war era” and has a “long way to go” before it will be ready to counter a potential attack by its bellicose eastern neighbor.
The director says he frequently finds himself wondering “How can you stop all this madness?” “In my opinion, it’s insane,” he says. However, for a filmmaker whose body of work offers a sobering reminder of mankind’s consistent failure to learn from its mistakes, Loznitsa’s optimism remains stubbornly persistent. “If I didn’t think there was still… some sort of shimmering hope for better times ahead,” he says, “I would never have gone on making films.”
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