DocNomads films presented in Ji.hlava, Czechia and DOKLeipzig, Germany
Daryna Mamaisur’s Smoke of the Fire is presented at the 28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival and I Stumble Every Time I Hear from Kyiv is screened at International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, which are held between 25 October to 3 November 2024.
Also, Kinshuk Surjan, a DocNomads alumnus, will be presenting his latest feature-length documentary Marching in the Dark in the Audience Competition of DOKLeipzig.
By Daryna Mamaisur (Ukraine) • 22’ • 2023
Synopsis:
The audiovisual poem uses associative images to present the thoughts and aspirations of a Ukrainian filmmaker during her study stay in a foreign country. She gets acquainted with the Portuguese language and through its specifics, sound and similarities to her native language, she penetrates the local culture in the role of a potential migrant. However, memories of her war-torn homeland keep returning to her reflections, creating unexpected connections between her current home and painful memories of Ukraine. The melancholic film thus presents language as a guide through a foreign landscape and dreamlike images of the everyday as a diary entry.
In Ji.hlava catalogue.
By Daryna Mamaisur (Ukraine) • 17' • 2022
Synopsis:
While studying in Belgium, Daryna Mamaisur witnesses Russia’s attack on her home country Ukraine from a distance. It is getting warmer, the chestnut trees are already in bloom, here in Brussels as well as there in Kyiv. Because she cannot find the words, she makes a film that records this spring – in the distance and nearby. She starts a visual correspondence with Tanya in Kyiv who would rather talk about an argument with her partner or the singing of the birds than the droning of the bombs.
The filmmaker, too, is searching for a way of speaking commensurate with her helplessness and shock. She takes voice lessons and interweaves the shots of recital and vocal exercises with the observations she exchanges with her friend. She directs our attention to the fragility of everyday life – and the experience of war that weighs down even the most relaxed, banal moments.
Lina Dinkla in DOKLeipzig catalogue.