Roman Bordun – The Diviners (2019)

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The main characters of the film are the inhabitants of the contemporary Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Lviv. Their reality is multi-layered, unvarnished, deprived of unambiguous interpretations of good and evil, humanity and cruelty, charity and indifference. This story is a kaleidoscope, which features all of us: the righteous, the merciless, the funny, the naïve. The honest.

Quote:
A kaleidoscopic portrait of contemporary Ukraine. Documentary facets of the life of city dwellers in Kiev, Odessa and Lviv. Symmetrical image associations of the finds in the editing: yellow, yellow, yellow. Pink pipes, spheres and circles. Parade and catwalk. Forms and plays with colours and, in between, deadly serious, the current political conflicts of Ukraine in the people’s voice: should the Russians be squashed like flies? Who has the power? Adolescent drinking games degenerate into ugly brawls. Girls are silly and playful. Young couples kissing mechanically while guarding their mobile phones. Naked people on the beach have crosses on their thighs. Dogs are abused with affection.

The tableau is of life itself, in its “humanity and cruelty, charity and indifference”. A portrait of all of us: “the righteous, the merciless, the funny, the naïve, the honest”. The director has dedicated his film to his Russian colleague Aleksandr Rastorguyev, who died in the Central African Republic during investigative research into a corrupt Russian military corporation. – SASKIA WALKER (DOK LEIPZIG)