- Title: Cinematic close-up of Ukraine's bloody Eastern Front premieres at Berlinale
- Date: 24th February 2023
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 24, 2023) (REUTERS) FILMMAKERS VITALY MANSKY AND YEVHEN TITARENKO ARRIVING FOR PREMIERE OF BERLINALE FILM "EASTERN FRONT" AUDIENCE MEMBERS WALKNG PAST "EASTERN FRONT" FILM POSTER TO ENTER CINEMA VARIOUS OF MANSKY AND TITARENKO POSING FOR PHOTOS WITH FILM TEAM CAMERA OPERATOR FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FILMMAKER VITALY MANSKY, SAYING: (ACCORDING
- Embargoed: 10th March 2023 14:06
- Keywords: Berlin Film Festival Berlinale Eastern Front Ukraine Ukraine war Vitaly Mansky Yevhen Titarenko
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA002281724022023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: PLEASE SEE EDIT 2206 FILMFESTIVAL-BERLIN/EASTER FRONT FOR IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH THE "EASTERN FRONT" FILMMAKERS
"Eastern Front", a documentary offering a close up of the bloody war in Ukraine premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday (February 24), on the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"It's very important to talk about this, today and always, that the war is going on and our soldiers, our guys and girls, are defending us today", Lviv-born filmmaker Vitaly Mansky, who co-directed the film with Ukrainian filmmaker Yevhen Titarenko, told Reuters.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, casting the war as a "special military operation" to protect Russia's own security.
"Eastern Front" celebrates the resilience of the Ukrainian people while providing a grisly portrait of the devastation of war. Ukrainian medical volunteers weave through a forest on the eastern front of the war with Russia, trying to treat maimed soldiers as enemy shells raindown.
Titarenko, who has served in a medical volunteer battalion for the past year, shot some of the scenes from his first-person perspective near cities including Kharkiv and Kherson. Mansky provided additional scenes recorded in Western Ukraine.
The two directors counterpose images of destruction - the charred remains of an apartment block, a herd of cows sinking in a field destroyed by bombing - with everyday scenes of companionship and love.
"Eastern Front" is screened in the festival's sidebar Encounters section.
(Production: Maximilian Schwarz, Zuzanna Szymanska, Swantje Stein) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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