Songs of Slow Burning Earth (2024)

  • Society, Ukraine, War

DESCRIPTION

An audiovisual diary of Ukraine’s immersion into the abyss of the first two years of Russia’s full invasion, made up of places, occasional characters, rare dialogues, intraframe sounds and silences which, when put together, capture the chronology of how the war became normalised. Against the backdrop of this (meta)physical landscape of collective disaster, a new generation of Ukrainians aspires to imagine the future.

News & reviews

Venice Title ‘Songs of Slow Burning Earth’ by Olha Zhurba Picked Up by Filmotor (EXCLUSIVE), Variety, 31.7.2024

“Unflinching in bringing war to our cinematic doorstep as a reminder that behind the abstract headlines you read every day there is the suffering of real people” International Cinephile Society

“Zhurba is not in it only for the shocking moments or the footage from the frontline.” Cineuropa

“A “country symphony”, disconcertingly beautiful but sober in outlook.” Documentary Magazine

“A Shattering, Indelible Record of a Wrecked Ukraine” High on Films

“Despite the horror, every scene is filmed with an eye to beauty; the shots are perfectly composed.” Modern Times Review

“A film that will stay in Ukrainian documentary history”, Film Kommentaren – Tue Steen Muller

DIRECTED BY
Olha Zhurba, Ukraine (Moon Man), Sweden (We Have a Plan), Denmark (Final Cut for Real), France (Arte), 2024, 95´
Broadcasters
ARTE France, DR, SVT
Festivals
81st Venice Film Festival, Riga IFF - Int. Competition, Astra Film Festival, Cin East Luxembourg, Lugano HRFF - Int. Competition, IDFA - Best of fests
Awards
WINNER | RIGA IFF FEATURE FILM COMPETITION; WINNER: DOC FUTURE AWARD at Verzio IDFF Hungary; WINNER: BEST FILM at Tertio Millennio Film Fest
TERRITORIES
World except of UA, DK and Sweden; TV & VOD rights excluded for France & DE
DIRECTOR BIO

Olha Zhurba is a Ukrainian film director, editor and screenwriter. Her short fiction film DAD’S SNEAKERS (2021) premiered at the Locarno FF and later won awards at many international festivals. DAD’S SNEAKERS was a candidate for a nomination at the European Film Awards 2022. OUTSIDE (2022) is her debut documentary, which premiered at CPH:DOX and HOT DOCS and won the Willy Brandt award at the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin and later the Japan Prize Award of Honor. She was also the editor of the festival hits and award-winning documentary films THIS RAIN WILL NEVER STOP (2021) and HOME GAMES (2018).

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