Screening of a selection of short films about landscape

On May 28 at 18:30, we are screening a selection of short films about landscape at the cinema.

The program includes works that view landscape not only as a physical environment but also as a space of memory, loss, coexistence, and change. Through personal stories, observations, and research, the filmmakers explore steppes, marshes, trees, industrial zones, and urban spaces to reflect on the connections between people, the environment, and time.

"Diorama" (Zoya Laktionova, 2018)

Life flows in its everyday reality, but suddenly something elusive alters its course. All that remains is the opportunity to submerge into memories, where everything is preserved as if in a museum.

"Territory of Empty Windows" (Zoya Laktionova, 2020)

World War II and a factory became the reasons for Zoya's family moving to Mariupol. The war with Russia and the environmental consequences of the factory's operations play a crucial role in her subsequent life.

"Remember the Smell of Mariupol" (Zoya Laktionova, 2022)

A documentary essay about the director's experience of being abroad during the first months of the full-scale war. Utilizing archival family photographs and texts, the video work demonstrates the interplay of two landscapes: one absorbing the other, though it remains difficult to understand which one is performing the act.

"The Steppe Where Hares and Pheasants Run, and Someone Even Saw Foxes" (Daryna Mamaisur, 2020)

The video explores the lost yet not forgotten steppes of eastern Ukraine. It reflects on the uneven flow of history and the representation of the natural landscape in times of environmental, military, and humanitarian crises.

"Zong" (Elias Parvulesco, Teta Tsybulnyk, Svitlana Pototska, 2019)

The Zamhlai Reserve is one of the largest marsh systems in Ukraine, with its name likely originating from the ancient Kurdish word zong ("marsh"). The filmmakers examine the phenomenon of marshes from various perspectives: as an expression of fear in the culture of agrarian societies; as an exploited landscape during the modern-industrial era; as a complex system of interconnections between hundreds of species from a post-humanistic perspective; and as a sink and natural regulator of carbon dioxide that shapes atmospheric composition and the prospects of life on the planet.

"dendro dreams" (Elias Parvulesco, Teta Tsybulnyk, 2018)

A film about the relationships between humans and trees. It is an attempt to challenge the human perspective on nature, recognize the subjectivity of the tree, and approach its radical otherness. The filmmakers explore the case of 15 "winners" of the "National Trees of Ukraine" contest and examine the image of the tree as reflected in the language of legislation, journalism, and poetry.

"Similar Image" (fantastic little splash, 2021)

Through the observation of sounds and landscapes, the film reflects on how humans organize the world around them and whether they can rediscover themselves within an unpredictable and magical forest.

Duration: 70 min.

Admission is free upon registration

The screening will take place as part of the residency "What the Landscape Remembers," which is dedicated to the exploration of surrounding spaces.

The residency is part of the capacity-building and networking program for local cultural actors "Heritage: Space for Work". This program is supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.