Latest news with #YelizavetaSmith
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Militantropos' Review: Austere Anti-War Doc Employs Formal Control in an Impassioned Defense of Ukraine
Billowing gray smoke intermingles with moody cloud cover, while scores of grim-faced Ukrainian citizens watch the skies, arms folded. The visual opening salvo of 'Militantropos,' directed by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova and Simon Mozgovyi, could be the opening scene of a Hollywood disaster movie, albeit one of the more dour and serious-minded sorts. Moments later, we're at a train station and the visual reference switches: Huddled masses are being evacuated from Kviv to Vienna with their suitcases and children. We're setting up a heartfelt period drama, perhaps. And then, in close-up, a bulldozer turns over rubble, and a family photograph is glimpsed in the debris, a tattered symbol of what has been lost. The makers of 'Militantropos' seem well aware of how the visual touchstones of war have been borrowed or appropriated by cinema, and their film loops us back around again, confronting us with the source images. The neologism that gives the film its title, coined for and by this film, is defined on-screen as 'a persona adopted by humans when entering a state of war.' Such textual musings return periodically and are part of a toolbox of techniques aligning this doc with formally experimental work, despite ripped-from-the-headlines subject matter which might lead you to expect a more standard-issue approach. More from Variety 'The Last One for the Road' Review: A Pleasant Italian Gem on Drinking Buddies, Aging and Wistful Flavors of Life 'A Poet' Review: Simón Mesa Soto Crafts a Hilariously Absurdist Fable About Trying to Lead an Artistic Life Oliver Laxe's 'Sirat' Sold by the Match Factory to Slew of International Territories After Cannes Jury Prize Win Written with Maksym Nakonechnyi, the director of the bleak drama 'Butterfly Vision,' 'Militantropos' repeatedly considers the effect of war on children. The bubble any parent tries to build for their child is always temporary, as the illusion that the world is for the most part a benign or even magical place must inevitably be dismantled — but whether that dismantling is a gradually managed part of growing up or the quick and brutal consequence of events beyond the parent's control is brought home here with vivid urgency. A school where children have been forced to stay, with artwork on the walls — some of which are normal kids' drawings and others of which depict bombings — gives a grounded sense of place to the horrific childhoods endured by young Ukrainians. This film's anthropological interest in how people are shaped by an ongoing immersion in a state of war is simultaneously deeply personally felt and conveyed with a sense of analytical remove. Perhaps that's partly the consequence of having been directed by a group: There's a balance and care here that is likely the consequence of collaboration and conversation between three director-editors also known as the Tabor Collective. One imagines that some of those conversations must have involved the ethics of aestheticizing war. It's certainly a relevant talking point here. Do beautiful images of an ugly thing risk conferring some sort of palatability to that ugliness? It's a very specific version of the age-old debate about whether cinema tends to glamorize what it depicts. In the case of 'Militantropos,' it matters a lot who is doing the depicting: People who are living the reality of war over an extended period of time are arguably entitled to discover beauty where they find it. Hope springs in unlikely places, including in a grove of cherry blossoms that fill the screen toward the end of the documentary. Despite its aesthetic virtues, 'Militantropos' ultimately captures the dreariness of military engagement: the bloodless greys and muted khakis, the palette leached of all life and humanity. Crucially, when guns fire and bombs detonate, the documentary eschews the language of cinema: The filmmakers don't zoom in for a slow-motion shot of a man's face grimacing as he dies. You can't always quite tell what has happened, and there is no on-screen devices to help orient us in the mission. There may not even be a mission, as the feeling of senseless intermittent destruction remains palpable throughout 'Militantropos.' Best of Variety The Best Albums of the Decade
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Films From Christian Petzold, Sean Byrne Chosen for Cannes' Directors' Fortnight Section
Eighteen features and 10 short films will be in the lineup of the independent Directors' Fortnight section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, organizers announced at a press conference on Tuesday morning. The section will open with Robin Campillo's 'Enzo' and will also include German director Christian Petzold's 'Mirrors No. 3,' starring Paula Beer; the Ukrainian documentary 'Militantropos,' from directors Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova and Simon Mozgovyi; 'Dangerous Animals,' a horror film set at sea from Australian director Sean Byrne ('The Devil's Candy'); the comedy 'Peak Everything' from Canadian director Anne Émond; and the closing-night film, first-time director Eva Victor's Sundance hit 'Sorry, Baby,' which will be released by A24 in June. The section does not convene a jury to choose the best of its films, but for the second consecutive year it will give out an audience award. Last year's audience award, the first ever given out by any section at Cannes, went to Canadian director Matthew Rankin's 'Universal Language.' Directors' Fortnight, which was originally titled La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs until the fact that réalisateurs is a masculine noun prompted a 2023 change to Quinzaine des Cinéastes, was the section that first brought Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Michael Haneke and George Lucas to Cannes, and that more recently presented Damien Chazelle's 'Whiplash,' Robert Eggers' 'The Lighthouse,' Sean Baker's 'The Florida Project' and Chloé Zhao's 'Songs My Brothers Taught Us.' At this year's opening-night ceremony for the Fortnight, director Todd Haynes will be honored with the Carosse d'Or or Golden Coach, an honorary award whose past recipients include Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch, Agnès Varda and David Cronenberg. The Directors' Fortnight announcement follows last week's announcement of Cannes' Official Selection and Monday's announcement of the International Critics Week lineup. The festival is expected to reveal additions to the Official Selection as early as this week. The poster for this year's Fortnight, seen above, was designed by director Harmony Korine. The Directors' Fortnight lineup: Feature films:'Enzo,' Robin Campillo (opening film)'The Foxes Round,' Valery Cornoy'Death Does Not Exist,' Feliz Dufour-Laperriere'L'Engloutie,' Louise Hemon'Kokouho,' Lee Sang-il'Lucky Lu,' Lloyd Lee Choi 'Militantropos,' Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova & Simon Mozgovyi'Girl on Edge,' Jinghao Zhou'Middle Class,' Anthony Cordier'Mirrors No. 3,' Christian Petzold'The Girls We Want,' Princia Car'Dangerous Animals,' Sean Byrne'Peak Everything,' Anne Émond'The President's Cake,' Hasan Hadi 'Indomptables,' Thomas Ngijol'Brand New Landscape,' Yuiga Danzuka'Que Ma Volonte Soit Faite,' Julia Kowalski'Sorry, Baby,' Eva Victor (closing film) Short/Medium Length Films:'10K,' Gala Hernandez Lopez'Loynes,' Dorian Jespers'Nervous Energy,' Eve Liu'Bread Will Walk,' Alex Boya'Blue Heart,' Samuel Suffren'Death of the Fish,' Eva Lusbaronian'The Body,' Louris van de Geer'Before the Sea Forgets,' Ngoc Duy Le'Karmash,' Aleem Bukhan'When the Geese Flew,' Arthur Gay The post Films From Christian Petzold, Sean Byrne Chosen for Cannes' Directors' Fortnight Section appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Militantropos' Acquired by Square Eyes Ahead of Premiere in Cannes' Directors' Fortnight (EXCLUSIVE)
Sales agent Square Eyes has acquired worldwide rights to the Ukrainian feature documentary 'Militantropos,' directed by Alina Gorlova ('This Rain Will Never Stop'), Yelizaveta Smith ('School Number 3') and Simon Mozgovyi ('The Winter Garden's Tale'), ahead of its world premiere in Cannes' Directors' Fortnight program. Wouter Jansen of Square Eyes said 'Militantropos' is 'a powerful and touching cinematic meditation on the impact of war on everyday life.' More from Variety Cannes Directors' Fortnight Unveils 2025 Lineup, Including Christian Petzold's 'Miroirs No. 3,' Eva Victor's 'Sorry, Baby,' Robin Campillo's 'Enzo' Cannes Section ACID Announces Selection, From a 'Feel-Good Movie About Depression' to a New Drama With Paris Olympics 'Blue Man' Sundance Festival Favorite Doc 'Come See Me in the Good Light' Lands at Apple TV+ The script is written by Smith, Gorlova, Mozgovyi and Maksym Nakonechnyi, who directed and co-wrote 'Butterfly Vision,' selected for Cannes' Un Certain Regard in 2022. 'Militantropos' refers to the Latin word for soldier ('milit') and the Greek word for human ('antropos'), meaning a persona adopted by humans when entering a state of war. 'This relentless experience shapes the ongoing transformation of individuals and society as a whole, therefore Militantropos chooses to accept war as the one and only option to exist,' according to a statement. 'Militantropos' explores 'human experience in war—those who flee, who lose their homes, those who stay to take up arms and learn to fight. Through the absence of a main protagonist, the film balances individual and collective experiences, emphasizing their relationships and the transformation of their everyday lives,' the statement added. 'It follows people's reaction to hostilities, atrocities and destruction, the transformation of their everyday lives, public interaction and spaces they live in.' The film is produced by Eugene Rachkovsky for Ukrainian film collective Tabor, also behind 'Butterfly Vision,' in co-production with Ralph Wieser for Austria's Mischief Films and Nabil Bellahsene for France's Les Valseurs. Rachkovsky stated: 'Our collective started filming as a reflex on the first day of the full-scale invasion. After 11 years of working as a collective and experiencing the war side by side, it felt natural to make a collective document of time and explore war as a phenomenon.' Wieser added: 'We were intrigued by [Tabor's] approach from our first virtual meeting. Creative filmmakers offering an extraordinary perspective on Ukraine at war.' Bellahsene said: 'War is not just a geopolitical event, it's a human experience, brutal and intimate. That's why the work of Tabor, a Ukrainian collective of filmmakers, immediately felt essential to us. Their gaze, deeply anchored in lived experience and artistic integrity, offers a powerful and necessary narrative of this moment in history.' 'Militantropos' received support from the Austrian Film Institute, Vienna Film Fund, ÖFI+, Creative Europa Media, Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, Special Aid for Ukrainian Artists, the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine in partnership with the CNC, SWR and Arte. Initial support was provided by the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program with support from Open Society Foundations, the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films, IDFA Bertha Fund, Ukrainian Film Academy's Post-Production Grant Program in partnership with Netflix, the Ukrainian Institute and Eurimages, Visions Sud Est, Goeteborg Film Fund, IMW: Documenting Ukraine, and Deutsche Filmakademie (Filmboost Germany). The project was developed and presented at Berlinale Talents, Visions du Réel and IDFA. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in April 2025 The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins
