The ninth edition of Ukraine on Film is in full swing in Brussels. A wide range of screenings at Cinema Galeries sets out to show that Ukrainian art is "not only about the war".
Ukraine on Film took off to great excitement in Cinema Galeries, Brussels on Wednesday evening.
Organised by the Ukrainian Institute, film company Arthouse Traffic and the Society of Ukrainians in Belgium, with support from the Embassy of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Mission of Ukraine to the European Union, Arte media and Cinema Galeries, the festival is running from Wednesday 28 May until Sunday 1 June.
The project began in 2014 as an act of cultural resistance to the illegal Russian annexation of Ukrainian territories, but this year's screenings go beyond a conversation about the ongoing war, according to co-organiser and head of Arthouse Traffic Denis Ivanov.
"I'm really proud that in Ukraine we have so many unique talents," he told The Brussels Times. Ukraine on Film showcases "distinctive authors with stories to tell, from coming-of-age stories to documentaries, from sci-fi movies to comedies. It's not only films about the war."
Porcelain War: 'Culture is the source of our resilience'
The first screening on Wednesday was the Oscar-nominated documentary Porcelain War. Three artists are caught between intense creative pursuits and shocking warfare in the city of Kharkiv, but refuse to cease making art even as Russian bombs destroy their surroundings.
"Our story is about art and beauty, because our culture is the source of our resilience," co-director Leontyev Bellomo told the audience via a video message. "It is about everyone who is ready to stay for democracy, preserve humanity and develop culture, even in the darkest of times."
Songs of Slow Burning Earth: 'Reality is the director'
'Songs of Slow Burning Earth' will be screened at 18:30 on Thursday 29 May followed by a discussion with director Olha Zhurba. The film is an account of Ukrainian society's collective transformation following the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
"I am the co-director. Reality is the director," Zhurba told The Brussels Times, in reference to the desolation of war and its impact on her professional life.
"My most important aim was to make a letter of testimonies for future Ukrainian generations who I hope will not remember the war, but they will need documentation to cope with the trauma that we are living through now," she says. "This film is one of the puzzle pieces that might help them to heal."
What else is on?
- 'U Are The Universe' at 19:00 on Friday 30 May: A post-apocalyptic universe, a decimated earth and a galactic journey through space in search of human connection.
- 'Grey Bees' at 19:00 on Saturday 31 May: The story of two childhood rivals and their intertwining lives – one looking West and the other East – in a village in Donbas following Russia's invasion in 2014.
- 'Fragments of Ice' at 19:15 on Sunday 1 June: Ukraine's rapidly changing post-Soviet society through the eyes of the director's father, a retired figure skater.
All films are showing at Cinema Galeries. More information about Ukraine on Film is available here.
