Ukraine Day at JEONJU IFF
Ukraine Day on Apr 30 at JEONJU IFF!
|
|
|
Hello from JEONJU IFF, “A Letter Written Together,” a series JEONJU IFF’s newsletter. Even as of April 21, series of reports are being updated daily about Russia´s invasion of Ukraine as well as its airstrikes over Ukrainian cities. It seems that Russian currently has been preparing for the second phase of its invasion by sending two additional combat units to the Donbas region. After initiating a large-scale offensive in the southeastern of Ukraine, Russia has intensified its level of offense by reinforcing its combat force and sending mercenaries. Ukraine has reported that peace negotiations with Russia, five of which have been held so far without any concrete results, have become even more complicated due to the Russian offensive.
The JEONJU IFF condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has designated April 30, the third day of the JEONJU IFF, as Ukraine Day to screen a series of the film made by Ukrainian filmmakers at CGV CINEMA 2. |
|
|
In particular, BABI YAR. CONTEXT and MR LANDSBERGIS, directed by Sergei LOZNITSA, are films that show the history of Ukraine and life before the war, making Ukraine Day shine at the JEONJU IFF. We will also be screening STOP-ZEMLIA, which competed in the International Competition of the 22nd edition last year. A debut film by Ukrainian director Kateryna GORNOSTAI, STOP-ZEMLIA tells the story of a teenage boy and girl in search of their own identities. Furthermore, there will be a Master Class with Sergei LOZNITSA, and a surprise video by Kateryna GORNOSTAI. We wish the audiences enjoy their films taking this opportunity to visit the JEONJU IFF on Ukraine Day! |
|
|
MR LANDSBERGIS│Director Sergei LOZNITSA Vytautas Landsbergis is a music professor and charismatic leader of the Lithuanian independence movement. In 1990, he took his country out of the Soviet Union and forced Gorbachev to recognize its sovereignty. 30 years after the historic collapse of the USSR, MR LANDSBERGIS shares the hidden story behind his nation´s fight for independence. Combining interviews and archive footage, the director paints a mesmerizing portrait of a man who made history.
REVIEW Born in Belarus and spending his teenage years in Ukraine, director Loznitsa has continuously worked with the history of Eastern European countries. This documentary looks back on the challenges, glory, and frustrations of Vytautas Landsbergis, who led the Lithuanian independence movement in the post-Soviet era. It focuses on the period from 1989 to 1991, around the time Landsbergis became Lithuania’s first head of state by winning the 1990 general election and achieved independence from the Soviet Union. This film is an autobiographical retrospective about Landsbergis, who was at the center of power in Lithuania and is now about to turn 90 soon, and presents archival footage from that time. However, what resonates the most from this documentary is that the war provoked by Russia´s selfish desire to dominate Eastern European countries continues even now, 30 years later. [Sung MOON] |
|
|
View the trailer for MR LANDSBERGIS ?? |
|
|
BABI YAR. CONTEXT│DirectorSergei LOZNITSA On September 29-30, 1941, Sonderkommando 4a of the Einsatzgruppe C, assisted by two battalions of the Police Regiment South and Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, massacred 33,771 Jews in the Babi Yar ravine in the north-west of Kyiv without any resistance from the local population.
* Warning for viewers: This film contains scenes that viewers may find upsetting relating to personal traumatic events.
REVIEW This documentary consists solely of restored footage of the lives of Soviet Ukrainians during World War II from June 1941 to December 1952. While illustrating the times before and after the massacre at the Babi Yar ravine where more than 33,000 Jews were slaughtered, Loznitsa does not simply focus on events but on human actions. From the testimonies of low-ranking soldiers who were given orders to kill and that of women who survived by climbing their way out of the heaps of corpses to the ways Nazis are punished after the final trial, this film relentlessly investigates the massacre and exposes the uncomfortable barbarism that is innately human. He shows indescribable cruelty through seemingly unending images because all of the atrocities shown were perpetrated by humans who never stopped to question such brutality. [Sung MOON] |
|
|
View the trailer for BABI YAR. CONTEXT> ?? |
|
|
STOP-ZEMLIA│DirectorKateryna GORNOSTAI An introverted high-school girl Masha sees herself as an outsider unless she hangs around with Yana and Senia who share her non-conformist status. While she is trying to navigate through an intense time of the pre-graduation year, Masha falls in love that forces her to leave her comfort zone. A deeply personal story about self-discovery and the patience it requires.
REVIEW A senior class in a high school in Ukraine. An introverted high school girl Masha hangs out with her friends Yana and Senja, but she thinks of herself as an outsider always. Meantime, a classmate Sasha wants to join the military if she could get out from her interfering mother. Senior classmates have faced a desire to be independent, a fuzzy future, a relationship between love and friendship, mimicking an adult, and searching for the self. Somehow, they must pass this period of their lives.
STOP-ZEMLIA is Ukraine’s female director Kateryna Gornostai’s debut film. The film tells a very personal story of adolescence and the story will win the audience’s sympathy who went through a stormy period in their youth. [CHUN Jinsu] |
|
|
View the trailer for STOP-ZEMLIA ?? |
|
|
Greetings from STOP-ZEMLIA´s director ?? |
|
|
The three Ukrainian films invited to the 23rd JEONJU IFF will make us enjoy Ukraine Day and think about wars while condemning Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Director Sergei LOZNITSA’s MR LANDSBERGIS and BABI YAR. CONTEXT will also be available for online streaming during the festival period on OFIFN, so if you’re not able to join us in Jeonju, you can still enjoy Ukraine Day at home. |
|
|
At the entrance of Jeonju Film Street is the “Peace Gun” installed by Art Group KHK. We welcome you to visit the JEONJU IFF, and to take a look at the “Peace Gun” and think about the message of peace it brings to the world. We ask for your interest and support for Ukraine Day on April 30! ?? |
|
|
??A Preview of the 23rd JEONJU IFF |
|
|
2022.04.26. Interviewed · Written by Publicity Team | Edited · Published by Publicity Team Filmed · Edited by : Publicity Team |
|
|
Jeonju Office (54999) 2F, JEONJU Cine Complex, 22, Jeonjugaeksa 3-gil, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea T. (063)288-5433 F. (063)288-5411 |
Contact: Publicity Team (publicity@jeonjufest.kr) ※ The newsletter is also available on JEONJU IFF´s official website > Media > Magazine. |
|
|
|
