In Souspilnist Foundation’s new Antithesis broadcast, we talked about the war and cinema, the parallels between russia’s war in Georgia and Ukraine, and the future of Ukrainian cinema.
The program’s guest was Zaza Buadze, a Ukrainian film director and screenwriter of Georgian origin known for “Red,” “Call Sign Banderas,” and “The Mother of Apostles.”
Ivan Tsyperdiuk and Viktoriia Dubinets anchored the event.
We are highlighting key quotes from our conversation in the shelter.
“I never called my films (“Red,” “Call Sign Banderas,” or “The Mother of Apostles”) patriotic. I shot movies about people and history. I consider myself a narrator. Unfortunately, there was a time when not everyone, but a circle of people, thought the term “patriotic cinema” somewhat odious, like propaganda. I’ve never done propaganda; it’s just that “Red” is an interesting story.”
“Now we’re essentially talking about the future: how we see it, how we see this country’s future, and not only that! We’re talking about humanity, the world, our place in it, and what functions Ukraine will perform. And I believe, despite everything, that we’re still happy people because we’re witnesses.
Francis Fukuyama was partly right when he said this was the end of history. It’s just the end of an old story and the beginning of a new one. And we’re not only witnesses; we are the active participants, making new history, building a new world, and not only Ukraine. It’s a civilization curve, an epoch-making, tectonic thing. It’s another world, another era.
“This war: we know very well that it hasn’t lasted eight years; it didn’t start in 2014. It started at least in 2008 when they attacked Georgia. And this is the same war, the same enemy. Bohdan M. Beniuk and I have a toast: “For the fastest restoration of the Ukrainian-Georgian land border.”
“Now a war’s going on between light and something chthonic. When someone says it’s the Middle Ages against modernism, it’s not true because it’s light, civilization, history, progress against something chthonic, chthonic beings from a swamp. It wasn’t me; their writer and ideologue Prokhanov said, “We, russians, are a chipmunk people.” Okay, if you’re chipmunks, go live like chipmunks. There are the homo sapiens and the homo chipmunkus. So we’re homo sapiens, and homo chipmunkus should live out there, in the swamps.”
“You know the thing is that Ukraine is a unique European country that not only can have but must have a full-fledged film industry. And the full-fledged film industry is something huge and complex. It’s got a mainstream, and it’s got niches, say, for arthouse.”
“Do we now have a chance to finally break this and separate russian culture from the world culture?”
Of course, we do. First off, we must do it ourselves without expecting that Europe will suddenly discover Ukrainian culture. We must make this Ukrainian culture: new films, literature, and music. My composer friends, young composers Roma Hryhoriv and Illia Razumeiko, wrote music for “Mother of the Apostles” and “Umbrellas.” It’s modern-world, European music, something incredible – authentic modern culture. And I think that, say, Taras Prokhasko’s novel “The UnSimple” is more remarkable than Marquez’s.”
You can watch the broadcast on Souspilnist Foundation’s Facebook page and our partner media platforms: KURS, Reporter, and TRK RAI.
