The Cannes Film Festival, dedicated to Ukraine’s opening day on May 13, screened three documentaries, outside of its formal choices, specifically targeting the Ukrainian people in their fight against the Russian invasion. These movies look at key characters in conflict - Zelenskyit traces the life of Ukrainian wartime president Volodymyr Zelensky - directly on the front line. 2000 meters to Andriivkadirector Mstyslav Chernov from Oscars (20 DeDour's tribute;), saw the director embed forward into the Ukrainian platoon, trying to liberate the strategic village Andriivka. Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussel Our WarBetween February and April this year, filmed on Pokrovsk and Soumy Fronts in eastern Ukraine.
MILITANTROPOSIt premiered worldwide in two weeks on May 21, taking a very different approach to telling the seemingly endless war. Co-director Alina Gorlova (The rain will never stop), Yelizaveta Smith (School number 3) and Simon Mozgovyi (The story of the winter garden) Shooting begins on the first day of the full-size Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
They did not set out to capture the battle map of lost and victorious, but the impact of conflict on daily life. With its Impressionist thematic documentary, without sound or explanatory dialogue, they explore how enduring conflict turns ordinary people into "Mileitantropos", a hybrid ("military") of soldiers of the Latin world ("military"), while Greek ("antropos") means the characters adopted when they launch a state of war.
director MILITANANANTROPOS,,,,, Talk with producer Eugene Rachkovsky Hollywood Reporter Regarding how life changed their personal identities during the Three Years’ War, how film evolved into a collective portrait of a country in the war, and whether art can still change. "Can we change people's minds with this movie? Can we do this with art?"
Before we start talking about the movie itself, I want to ask everyone - quote the title of the movie - what is this war for you personally for over three years? What does it mean to be a military type?
Simon Mozgovyi That's why we want to make this movie. We have noticed this transformation happening in ourselves and in Ukrainian society. We feel how war is part of us, and we have somehow become part of war. I think this gives us the opportunity to see the importance of human existence itself - the importance of life and the importance of making choices for your life.
yelizaveta smit For me, from the beginning of a full-scale invasion, living in wartime means constantly making choices and constantly questioning oneself. Should you stay or leave? For example, I have a child. Should I do something for the army? Everyone is asking themselves questions like this. Honestly, I've been feeling stressed. You just have to try to stay and resist with your own strength. You tell yourself, “Let’s get longer.” But it’s been “Let’s get longer” for three years. What really helps is the people around you - your close relatives, your co-authors, your friends, your level of connection. This is what helps you survive mentally and physically.
Eugene Rachkovsky Part of our discussion around the project focuses on observing how this transformation occurs within us. You can't escape it - you are in the middle. It pushes you toward internal transformation, toward activities. What Yelizaveta says is true: the form it needs to be different from people, and you're always questioning your choices. As artists, we felt we were doing something important at the time, but we continued to repeat ourselves. Now, after three years and completing the film, we can feel it more clearly. This is also why many of us volunteer – because it is a positive, useful way. Not only to the army, but to the people around us. For me, it’s a very personal exploration of how war is a part of our lives, and even if it’s over, it never completely disappears. It will leave traces of generations.
Alina Gorlova Yes, I agree with these traces. I'm thinking about this when others speak. This is a difficult and complex problem. Personally, I feel like I've completely changed. There are also many questions about art. It's hard not to feel fantasy - to see how global politics works, how media works, how public opinion is so quickly. But I still believe in the importance of what this movie does. I want to feel it has an impact. Can we change people’s minds with this movie? Can this be done with art?
What was the initial idea behind the documentary?
yelizaveta smit Well, our production company has been around for 11 years, and even before the full invasion, each of us was making movies about war. We all dream of changing this topic one day. But when the invasion started, it was obvious that we had to continue to do that - we were constantly exploring it from different perspectives. That's why the film has such a collective spirit: it brings together all our perspectives on the nature of war. The project attempts to explore its core by transforming individual transformations and serves as a collective portrait of the people who become part of the war, which in turn becomes part of the war.
It begins with exploring - asking questions about ourselves and each other. It doesn't have to look for the answer. When everything around you is destroyed, when your future is uncertain, you must find new meanings to survive as human beings. This movie is an attempt.
Simon Mozgovyi Yes, I added that when the invasion started, the movie was the way we responded to what was happening around us and how we were. This is the way we stick to our identities and try to understand ourselves in trauma and horror.
Alina Gorlova The method we use in movies is also about transferring this experience to the audience. This guides how we work with lenses, editing, sounds, music – everything is designed to evoke a certain feeling. We believe that cinemas can give viewers the opportunity to approach these events and truly feel them. Theater can be a place for profound emotional experiences.
That's why you choose not to use dubbing or traditional narrative structures?
Alina Gorlova Yes. We follow our first-hand experience very well. The structure of the film reflects this: we start from a distance and then gradually get closer to the people. At first, we show a wider range of things. But as time goes by, both as audiences and as directors, we start to notice small, emotional moments in large-scale, frightening events. This is how structure develops.
Simon Mozgovyi Our shooting method has developed in two and a half years. The lens was collected throughout the period, and during that time, we all went through a transformation – both as directors and photographers. In the first year, we simply respond to events from our own starting point. But by editing and reviewing the video, we realized we wanted to get closer. Therefore, the film’s structure is divided into three parts: the initial response to the invasion, the war becomes part of everyday life, and finally the deeper, more intimate exploration of the individual and the concept of mileitanttropos.
As far as visual language is concerned, it happens a lot instinctively. We have worked with DPS for nearly a decade, so our visual intuition is already aligned. The structure and visual style of the film appear very naturally.
yelizaveta smit In short: we all agreed to the use of a static, observational shooting style earlier. We want to capture reality without implementing too many explanations, so there is no moving camera, nor drama. That distance, especially early in the film, gives us a clear way to interact with the world around us. Later editing, we began to find emotional and symbolic connections between scenes. By then we had 70 shots and we chose to focus very clearly on the collective portrait of transformation. That's why as the movie progresses closer.
Your company has been making war movies since its full-scale invasion?
Eugene Rachkovsky Yes. We have been shooting in Donbas and eastern Ukraine since 2014. One of our documentaries, The rain will never stopalso partially shot in Kurdistan. Therefore, we are already studying the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian war. After the full invasion, our work expanded to this larger project.
yelizaveta smit We also made a novel movie. Butterfly Visionabout war. This topic has been around for many years - we simply can't look away.
Alina Gorlova I counted - we made five feature films on this topic. Just before the full invasion, we just finished Butterfly Visionwe tell ourselves, “We don’t have more war movies that are developing.” We really think that’s it. That's our real conversation.
All the experiences you have in making a movie, the people you meet, the places you visit, make the most lasting impression on you?
Alina Gorlova There is an old woman in the movie for about 15 or 20 minutes. She gardens in a completely destroyed village and cooks soup outside. Her house has a magnificent view - beautiful - but destroyed by the Russians. She lives in the basement. She has other housing options, but chooses to come back. She has been gardening and cooking for us and she keeps saying, "We need to win. We need to win." That's really with me. We helped her - we brought volunteers and built a shelter next to her basement and purchased supplies to make her life more comfortable.
Simon Mozgovyi To me, two scenes in the forest we call the "Silver Forest" are memorable. It is located on the administrative border between Luhansk and Donetsk. I want to catch the feeling of fear - approaching the enemy without seeing the feeling of fear. It was a very adventurous shoot, basically on the front line. Later, we went to a nearby town of Lyman and found a woman coming to receive us. She didn't ask for money, she just asked for Russian cake. That little gesture was so touching. I brought her three cakes. We were late and she couldn't open the door due to a curfew. It feels like a dark fairy tale - opening a door at night can lead to danger. It's really with me.
yelizaveta smit There is a scene in the first part of the film, in Chernihiv, the city is bombed near the Russian border. We arrived three days after the career ended. No electricity, no food, no water. We are not ready yet. In a nearby village called Yahidne, we met a school guard who showed us the basement where villagers were detained by the Russians for 30 days. Many, especially men, were killed. When we were filming, I saw the guard sitting in his old location, recovering the trauma in the same position. It hit me deeply-I know it will be with him forever. Maybe with me too.
Eugene Rachkovsky Every scene left traces. A particularly intense experience was held in Kherson after the Russians blew up the dam and flooded parts of the city. Volunteers from all over the country came to rescue people and animals, while Russian troops were still shelling them. It's frightening, but it's also powerful - so much human energy and unity. Another bright moment: Yelizaveta and our DP went to the southern village and met great people. This evolved into a volunteer program to rebuild destroyed homes. It became a separate project, now run by filmmakers, production designers and costume designers, who became volunteers. It starts with us looking for a location and becomes a real reconstruction.
Simon Mozgovyi Yes, I just added that it’s not just horror that’s the mix of emotions that stay in touch with you. Each other's strength, love, caregivers' display of each other's mutual display of animals, houses and plants. It's about good or bad, but about the powerful human reaction in it all.