Two Ukrainian war films to compete at Pune International Film Festival

Bachennya Metelyka (‘Butterfly Vision’), also made in 2022, is yet another movie themed on the Ukraine war. At its heart is Lilia, a Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance expert who has returned home after spending months as a prisoner in Donbas. “But the trauma of captivity continues to torment her and surface in dreamlike ways. Something growing deep within Lilia will not allow her to forget, yet she refuses to identify as a victim and will fight to liberate herself,” says an official statement by PIFF organisers about the film.

The two films express different aspects of the human anguish of war. This year, PIFF received 1,574 entries from 72 countries, of which 140 movies will be screened. “We have films in the A+ grade in a large number. All the 14 films that are shortlisted in the World Competition are kept in the top grade,” said Jabbar Patel, director of PIFF.

The other films in the World Competition selection also reflect conflicts across the world. Arabic film Boy from Heaven reveals the power struggle between the religious and political elite in Egypt, while the Russian film Minsk is based on a true story about a young couple that goes out for a stroll one evening only to be caught in the civilian protests in Minsk. Seventeeners, a Kannada film, showcases the complexities of social and caste identities, and in Three Thousand Numbered Pieces from Poland, a white director and five young marginalised Roma actors work on a play.