
Secrets of Ukrainian Independence
Documentary · History
Overview
This is a collection of unique video and photo documents, memorials of direct participants and witnesses of the events: deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR/Ukraine, government officials, politicians, public figures and journalists, as well as materials of Ukrainian and foreign media.
Top Cast


Vitalii Hordiienko
Vitalii Hordiienko
Main character
Vitalii Hordiienko
Main character
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Ruslana Abrosimova, 17 years old, lives in Mariinka, Donetsk region. Now Ruslana is in an unconditional state of war and is struggling every day with her desire to go out on the street or to stay at home, safe, in her room. War in Ukraine rages for more than five years already. Still, teens never cease to think about studying, discovering new cities and their bright future. Conflict occurs at every step as soon as the children open their room doors. That`s why Ruslana decided to take her camera and start to film her reality.

Throughout time, Eastern Ukraine (such as Donbas) has been referred to as a 'Russian world', but this is indeed not the case. The history of Donbas was re-written during the Soviet era. Although the Soviet Union edited out and withheld all references to the European background of this region from history books in schools and universities. There were, in fact, numerous French, Belgian, German, British, Polish, Swiss, Dutch, and even American settlements and more than 100 wide-scale enterprises in the region. Therefore, this film reveals the pro-European industrialization of Ukrainian Donbas at the turn of the 19th century. It aims to emphasize the European roots of Ukraine long before the official integration process of Ukraine into the EU in 2022.
In this short film directed in the style of Andrei Tarkovsky, eternity and the downfall of the Soviet empire are explored in a deeply symbolic and poetic way. The film follows a protagonist as they traverse a desolate landscape, reflecting on the transient nature of life and the inevitability of death. Through a series of dreamlike sequences, the audience is presented with a powerful meditation on the idea of eternity, and how it can be seen in the rise and fall of empires. The film culminates in a powerful scene of the protagonist standing atop a hill, looking out at the ruins of the Soviet empire, and contemplating the eternal cycle of life and death.

In the aftermath of war-torn Borodyanka, Ukraine, powerful murals by renowned street artists Banksy and C215 appear on the war-damaged buildings, inspiring a group of young Italian restorers to preserve these symbols of hope and resilience, that represent the transformative power of art.

The story of war, love and death that was documented by the immediate participants of events. Off screen and later on it are the two - a boy and a girl. He volunteered for the front; she went to the place just after the battle. He got into Ilovaysk cauldron, lost his closest brother-soldiers. She, while travelling along the ruined towns, strives to understand the essence of war and love. Both tell openly one another about their feelings during the war, escaping the cauldron, a try to live together after, and a common trip to the frontline.

Whilst the first shots ring out between pro-Russian government forces and members of the opposition in the winter of 2013, young Nina leaves Crimea. She was raped by a corrupt policeman, her friend was killed, and now she seeks refuge with the protesters on Maidan Square. Revolutionary chaos prevails, and it‘s not at all clear who remains loyal to whom and which means can be regarded as legitimate in the struggle for freedom. Ultimately Nina and her tormentors come face to face again and the spiral of violence is stepped up a further notch. The film was shot to a genuine backdrop, the result of which is a multifaceted allegory on the tragedy currently playing out in Ukraine.

1971, Odesa Film Studio. The KGB studio curator orders a re-edit of just finished movie about the events of Ukraine’s 1920s "civil war" of a young director in line with the Party’s view on the historical events. This re-editing work is entrusted to a young female editor, which consequently realizes she must protect the director’s vision and the safe-guard the truth about her country under Soviet occupation.












