Militantropos

Beginning with the first evacuation trains leaving Kyiv's central station, the film shows the effects of war on daily life. Civilians train their combat skills, men go to the front, harvests wither, mothers and young widows grieve. And always, an ominous distant rumble.

In carefully framed images, we see how the instinct for survival takes shape, but also the need for humanity. Sometimes absurd, as when a throng of press photographers in bulletproof vests tries to capture an elderly woman with a shopping bag. Sometimes moving: a soldier writes a poem for his beloved. In trenches, young men watch the World Cup between battles. This reveals how the psyche is shaped by a new reality. People are absorbed in the war, and the war becomes part of them.

Sundag 23 November with an introduction by Hugo Emmerzael
Hugo Emmerzael is a film critic and programmer based in Amsterdam. He is editor of the monthly independent Dutch film magazine De Filmkrant and also publishes in MUBI Notebook, Electric Ghost Magazine, Frame.Land, VPRO and more. Hugo works as a programmer for various arthouse cinemas in the Netherlands, the CinemAsia Film Festival and as curator of the Director's Forum of the Netherlands Film Festival.