By Murad Rakhimov | 2024-10-21

KYIV -- Countless filmmakers and actors dream of walking the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival.

For the actor Mykola Hradnov-Savytskyi, who lost his legs fighting Russian invaders, this dream may have seemed out of reach.

But on September 4, he joined the creators of the documentary "Songs of Slow Burning Earth" in Venice.

In 2022, after the Russian army launched its full-scale invasion, the stage actor joined the Ukrainian National Guard and went to the front.

In March 2024, he was seriously wounded.

In Lvov province, he underwent treatment, received his prostheses and ended up on camera.

The film, directed by Olha Zhurba, contains an episode about patients at his treatment center, including him.

"There are quite a few stories there. ... In civilian life you can avoid thinking about the war, but here [in Venice] it's perpetually with you," Hradnov-Savytskyi said in a September 5 video on Zhurba's Instagram page.

The film covers in diary form the first two years of the Russian full-scale invasion.

The cinema industry, like every sector of Ukrainian society, has paid a dreadful price defending its country.

As of December 2023, more than 70 Ukrainian film industry professionals had been killed, Le Monde reported at the time.

As the aphorism goes, war has no second takes.

Ukraine's 1st Oscar

Even in the throes of an existential war, Ukraine has vowed to preserve its film industry. It is winning awards and attracting viewers.

On September 28, "U Are the Universe," directed by Pavlo Ostrikov, won several awards at the European Fantastic Film Festival in Strasbourg, France.

In September, the European Parliament selected "Intercepted" as a finalist for its 2025 LUX Audience Award. The film contains recordings of intercepted phone calls by Russian soldiers in Ukraine to their families.

The 2025 winner will be announced in April.

Netflix has data too on the popularity of Ukrainian cinema. From the start of the war in 2014 to October 2023, more than 45 Ukrainian films and TV series were streamed on Netflix.

That success has several explanations, said Ukrainian film critic Kateryna Slipchenko.

"First of all, production on many films started before the full-scale invasion," she told Kontur. "So the industry is still riding the wave of past successes, since we can talk about the real rise of Ukrainian cinema after 2014."

Another factor is the compulsion of filmmakers to react to a national catastrophe, and the hunger of viewers for such films, she added.

One documentary this year became Ukraine's first Oscar winner.

"20 Days in Mariupol" depicts life in the besieged city after the Russian invasion.

It won the 2024 Oscar for Best Documentary, one of more than 20 awards it took worldwide.

"It's timely and unique ... and it's the first Oscar win for Ukraine. That's huge," Slipchenko said.

More documentaries coming

But the war and its costs are unavoidably affecting Kyiv's ability to finance cinema.

State funding for film projects will have to fall by almost 70% in 2025, the government said in September.

"It's going to be ... even harder than it is now," Slipchenko said, lamenting both the prospect of "fewer good films" and the "irreplaceable" film professionals who have been killed in the war.

Slipchenko expects more documentaries to come, given the demand for them and Ukraine's long documentary-making tradition.

Documentaries record Russian war crimes and Ukrainian efforts to free occupied cities. They have the advantage of not needing large crews, movie sets or much equipment.

Even though the government has to reduce its financial backing for films, it is still providing something, Slipchenko noted.

Furthermore, international backers are helping fund the majority of Ukrainian films.

The Associated Press was a partner in making "20 Days in Mariupol."

International attention

Iryna Fomenko, originally from Kyiv, is a film buff, producer and theater blogger. She fled the country after war broke out and now lives in Georgia.

Even though she is far from Ukraine, she keeps up with Ukrainian cinema.

International festivals and streaming platforms need to screen more Ukrainian films, she said, adding such exposure would help viewers abroad better understand the country's ordeal and its root causes.

"I really like how films are being made in Ukraine these days," she told Kontur. "They're interesting, full of talent, engaging."

"Even in wartime, Ukrainian films are filling theaters. ... And that's how it should be."