Location: LUX

A program consisting of short films by Ukrainian authors who explore the contemporary reality of their country through various types of archival materials. All these films were made within the last 6 years which were crucial for the historical, political as well as socio-cultural process in Ukraine, which eventually affected the formal and thematic work of Ukrainian visual artists and filmmakers. It is important that these films are a hybrid form, on the border of fiction, documentary and experimental cinema.  

The films in this program use not only historical, but also so-called open-source modern archives. This is a very important aspect of openness of information and sources, which is very typical for modern Ukraine. This gave many authors the opportunity to reflect not only on the events, but also on the independent visualization of this war and its development. How do contemporary filmmakers work with archives that are only 3-5 years old? How can we trace the changes that occur not only in the country, but also in people’s minds through documentary strategies?

Each of the artists in this section takes a different approach to the boundary between reality and fiction. Some of them do not work explicitly with documentary methods, but there is a certain polemic about the place and function of image in the formation of political consciousness, how truth can be dealt with today using scientific methods, or whether today’s conception of truth is far more informed by working with fiction. 

Curated by Anna Kryvenko