#Darya Bassel

[dontforgetukraine]

"I watched a film today at the Venice Film Festival titled "Russians at War." Since our film is in the same section as this one, I usually wouldn’t speak publicly about it. However, in this case, I cannot remain silent, because it’s not just about films and art, but about the lives of thousands of people who die in this war— a war that has instrumentalized propaganda as its weapon.

This film may mislead you into believing that it is an anti-war film, one that questions the current regime in Russia. However, what I witnessed is a prime example of pure Russian propaganda. Here’s why.

The filmmaker begins by expressing her surprise at the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In her film, she always uses the term “invasion” and never "full-scale invasion." She does not mention that Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014. These two events seem to not exist in the world of this film. The filmmaker also states that her country hasn’t participated in wars for many years and that she has only read about wars in books. Thus, the war in 2022 was a complete shock for her. It’s interesting how the filmmaker could overlook the fact that her country has been inherently involved in various wars and occupations for at least the last 30 years (1992-93 Transnistria, Abkhazian War, 1994-96 and 1999-2009 Chechen Wars, the 2008 war in Georgia, and the 2015-2022 invasion of Syria).

The filmmaker starts her narrative with a Ukrainian who now lives in Russia and fights on the Russian side. This is a very intriguing choice for the beginning of a story about Russians at war. Later, this character will claim that a CIVIL war began in Ukraine in 2014. He will also suggest that Ukrainians bombed the eastern parts of their own country (and this is why he moved to Russia). Another character will declare that Ukrainians are Nazis. We’ve heard these narratives before; they are (and apparently still are) widely and actively propagated by Russian media. One of those horns of propaganda is Russia Today channel, for which the director of "Russians at War" has previously made several documentary films.

Throughout the film, all characters express their confusion about their actions in Ukraine, stating they want the war to end and that most of them are fighting for money. In the final part of the film, the battalion is moved to Bakhmut, and most characters die in battle. We then see their comrades and relatives grieving at their graves. All of them repeat that they don’t understand why this war is happening and who needs it. In the end, the filmmaker concludes that these are poor, ordinary Russian people who are being manipulated into war by larger political games. I found this perspective amusing because the filmmaker—like putin and his regime—plays an interesting game with these people. They deny them the simple ability to possess dignity and to think and decide for themselves. To her, these people are merely powerless objects. If those engaged in a war that has lasted over 10 years were not powerless, it would imply that they, in the majority, actually support this war, wouldn’t it?

You will feel pity for the people depicted as dying in the film and for those we see crying for their loved ones. And you should—if you are a normal human being, you should feel pity, sadness, and emotion. However, it is also important to remember that these individuals joined the army that invaded an independent country, many of them willingly, as we learn from the film. You should also recall Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, and the civilians who were murdered there. Remember the thousands of children who were illegally transported from Ukraine to Russia. While I’m writing this and while you’re reading it, missiles are striking Ukrainian cities. The buttons are pushed by ordinary Russians. Are their crimes any less significant simply because they claim to be unaware of why they are involved in this war?

By the way, the director asks one of the characters if he thinks the Russian army commits any war crimes. He answers “no,” claiming he hasn’t witnessed any war crimes. Interestingly, the director echoes this in her interviews, stating she saw no signs of war crimes during her time near the front (https://www.reuters.com/.../russian-soldiers-given-their.../). We can only be happy for her that she was fortunate enough not to witness any war crimes. Unfortunately, thousands of Ukrainians have not been so lucky.

I could continue, but I believe it’s enough to understand that this film presents a very distorted picture of reality, spreading false narratives (calling the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea a civil war; suggesting that the Russian army does not commit any war crimes; presenting those who are part of the aggressors army as victims).

If you decide to watch it, I recommend following it with another documentary about Russian soldiers titled "Intercepted," directed by Oksana Karpovych. "Intercepted" also opens a door into the lives of ordinary Russians fighting in this war. You’ll be curious to explore it, as it will undoubtedly surprise you. You may also want to add "20 Days in Mariupol" to your viewing list, just to be able «to see through the fog of war," as the director of "Russians at War" so aptly put it."

—Darya Bassel, Ukrainian film producer of war documentary “Songs of Slow Burning Earth

[thelittleukrainianwell-armedgirl]

Olga Birzul

Darya Bassel, Ukrainian producer and head of industry of #DocudaysUA:

What scares me the most in the current situation is that I see that Ukrainian voices are still ignored on the international cultural scene. Many international film festivals are organizing special programs dedicated to Russia’s war against Ukraine and what do we see in these programs or panel discussions? We see films made by Russian filmmakers or by foreign filmmakers. The same is with broadcasters. They air Russian films instead of giving the floor to Ukrainian filmmakers. Even these films are produced by filmmakers who do not support Putin and his bloody regime, still, why the international community doesn’t want to listen to Ukrainians? Even now? It is the same if you invite a man to be a spokesperson for a #meetoo movement. I say it’s time to listen to Ukrainian voices! Culture is politics. It’s a dangerous illusion that culture is beyond politics, that culture doesn’t influence you and your opinions and that it can’t be used as a weapon. Ukrainian theaters right now turned into hospitals or hostels for refugees. Ukrainian filmmakers turned into soldiers. Ukrainian museums are being bombed. It is culture and it is part of the war as every other part of the social life. Do you want to stop Russian aggression? You should stop its culture from influencing your minds.

[upsmagazine]

Ukrainian Docmakers Don Flak Jackets, Keep Cameras Rolling During War

Ukrainian Docmakers Don Flak Jackets, Keep Cameras Rolling During War

Last week Darya Bassel, the curator of Docudays UA’s industry platform, returned to her home in Kyiv and found herself smiling “like a crazy person” to be back at work and resuming something of a daily routine. “I’m still sitting 12 hours a day with my laptop,” she said during Slava Ukraini, an early morning session that kicked off Day 2 of Hot Docs’ Industry LIVE conference. “There are just some…

[gioandmo]

Continueremo a fare film in un paese libero: intervista a Darya Bassel

Azione, Cultura e spettacoli, 07/03/2022

https://issuu.com/azionemigrosticino/docs/azione_10_7_3_2022

Photo Outside di Olha Zhurba

[cineastua]

MAN'S WORK_ЧОЛОВІЧА РОБОТА from marina stepanska on Vimeo.

Short, 15’, Ukraine-Austria, 2015 The 47-year-old man is working for a Corporation, which is engaged in illegal occupation of rural land. Leaving for another "object", he discovers a huge unfinished cathedral at the infinite field. He needs to decide what to do with the cathedral, as well as to subdue a farmer who rightfully owns the land. Best Ukrainian Short (OIFF) 2015 Best Actors Ensemble (Molodist) 2015 Cast: Alexandr Prischepa Roman Yasinovsky Igor Linshits Timur Gimadiev Leonid Andrienko Crew: Story&directing: Marina Stepanska Camera: Sebastian Thaler Sound: Sergiy Stepansky Visual: Anatoliy Lavrenishin Executive producer: Katya Lachina Line producer: Darya Bassel 1st AD: Dmitriy Kovalev Sound recordists: Oleg Golovyoshkin, Roman Siruk, Nikolay Streletsky Tecnical producer: Nikolay Vlasov Film's page: facebook.com/manworkfilm

[opencitydocumentaryfestival]

Meet the Open City Jury

The Open City Jury presides over two of our three Awards - Emerging International and Best UK, each of which have four nominated films. Take a look below to see which films are nominated and find out a little bit more about the jury members…

Emerging International Nominees:  

On the Rim of the Sky (Hongjie Xu)

Battles (Isabelle Tollenaere)

Cechanok (Mazyar Moshtagh Gohari)

Invasion (Abner Benaim)

Best UK Film Nominees: 

The Divide (Katharine Round)

Honey at the Top (Dean Puckett)

Jungle Sisters (Chloe Ruthven)

The Closer We Get (Karen Guthrie)

This year’s Open City Jury is chaired by film journalist and critic Carmen Gray (Dazed Digital, Sight & Sound). Carmen also works as a freelance consultant for European production companies and is part of the team launching new independent film space Wolf in Berlin. As well as the cinema of central and eastern Europe she has a special interest in documentary, and has served on the juries of a number of major documentary-specialised festivals including CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, Message to Man in St Petersburg and DOK Leipzig. 

Also joining the Open City Jury is Peter Taylor, Director of Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival. Over the last decade he's been working as a film programmer for the International Film Festival Rotterdam and up until 2012 also for WORM: Rotterdam’s Institute for Avant-Gardistic Recreation. Selected by the Mondriaan Fonds for a 2015 research based residency at AIR Berlin Alexanderplatz, other recent activities include curating programmes for the DEAF Biennale and PLASTIK, Ireland’s festival for artists’ moving image. (image credit)

We also pleased to have Charlie Phillips, Head of Documentaries at The Guardian, as part of the 2015 jury. Charlie works on commissioning and acquiring new short documentaries from all around the world for The Guardian, one of the world's most read English Language news sources. Charlie was previously Deputy Director at Sheffield Doc/Fest for 7 years before joining The Guardian in 2014, and prior to that he was Editor of FourDocs for Channel 4.

We welcome filmmaker Nick Sweeney to the jury. Nick is an Australian director and producer currently based in New York, whose documentaries have appeared on Channel 4, TLC and ABC. Originally from Australia, his first documentary, 'Secrets of the Living Dolls' (2014), was a behind the scenes look at the secretive world of female masking. He is currently directing a documentary series on transgender and gender-variant young people for Channel 4 to be broadcast in 2015.

Finally, Darya Bassel, Programme Coordinator at Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival joins us from Kyiv, Ukraine. Darya has also worked on a number of film productions with director Juri Rechinsky including the award winning ‘Sickfuckpeople’ and ‘UGLY’ which is currently in development.

With thanks to Ocelot Chocolate for providing delicious gifts for our Jurors.