France 2021, 85 min, Russian, Hebrew & English subtitles
Even when, on paper, the ceasefire was still in effect, Donbas in Ukraine was anything but quiet. Deep in the trenches, some makeshift, some well-fortified, tension runs high as soldiers (young men and one woman) await the next burst of enemy shells. The waiting is nerve-racking and danger is always imminent, but between explosions, there is room to forge bonds, build team spirit, chop vegetables for a salad, pet some kittens, briefly revert to the man or woman they had been before the fighting, and unwind by playing video games—shooters, of course. French journalist Loup Bureau spent long months on the ground with the soldiers, and his camera, fully immersed in their entrenched existence, captured their tense day-to-day so closely that you can smell, taste, and feel everything: every heartbeat, and every time their hearts speed up.
Previous Festivals: IDFA, Venice
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