Ukrainian Cinema Post-2022: Haunting Pasts and Insistent Presents

• In Event: Contested Memory and Resistance to Neocolonialism in Ukraine’s Culture I

Abstract

This paper examines how Ukrainian cinema has risen to the dual challenge of documenting Russia’s war of aggression and articulating a distinct national history. Already since 2014, Ukrainian filmmakers have been aware of cinema’s evidentiary power, documenting both devastating war crimes and the mundane experience of war. Since 2022, the body of films dedicated to this task has grown exponentially not only in number but also in variety. The past year, in particular, has seen ever more artistic approaches to this subject matter in both documentary and fiction. At the same time, despite difficulties filming and securing funding, Ukrainian filmmakers continue to produce occasional films focusing on the country’s past. The paper takes a broad view, analyzing the challenges these films encounter (in particular the question of how to document/represent the Soviet past in Russophone regions) and the strategies they adopt in making a claim for Ukrainian cultural perseverance.

Author

• Masha Shpolberg, Bard College