The Center for Civil Liberties advised the team of the film «Songs of Slow Burning Earth» which organized an event at the Venice Film Festival to support Ukrainians in captivity

On September 4, as part of the official program of the 81st Venice International Film Festival, traditionally held on the Lido Island (Italy), the world premiere of the documentary film Songs of the Burning Land by director Olha Zhurba took place. The film team used the red carpet to draw attention to Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war held by Russia. To achieve this, they had previously reached out to the Center for Civil Liberties to obtain accurate and truthful information about Ukrainians in captivity.

Songs of Slow Burning Earth is an audiovisual diary documenting Ukraine’s descent into the abyss of total war, filmed over the first two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The film is composed of locations, people, rare dialogues, expressive sounds, and silence that gradually reveal the tragic chronology of the normalization of the sense of war within society. Against the backdrop of collective catastrophe, a new generation of Ukrainians seeks to imagine the future.

In preparation for the premiere, the film team decided to draw international media and festival guests’ attention to the issue of the imprisonment of Ukrainian military personnel and civilians, as this issue is close to every Ukrainian and, at the same time, is relatively unknown and insufficiently discussed outside Ukraine. To obtain accurate and verified information, the filmmakers turned to the Center for Civil Liberties, whose expertise they trusted. The organization, in particular, provided a list of 170 known detention centers and places of torture where Russia holds Ukrainian military personnel and civilians.

According to the Center for Civil Liberties, at least 7,000 civilians are currently being unlawfully detained by Russia in temporarily occupied and Russia-controlled territories. The actual number may be much higher. The statistics on the detention sites of Ukrainians in Russia and in temporarily occupied territories can be viewed in “real-time” on the website of the initiative «Tribunal for Putin».

On the red carpet, the team members appeared in clothing adorned with embroidery depicting the distances from Lido Island to various places of detention where Russians hold Ukrainians. The delegation’s attire featured unique embroidery — eight names of different detention sites and their distances from Lido Island. Each of these pieces represents the thousands of lives of Ukrainians affected.

«We wanted to remind people of the horrific conditions in places of detention, the illegitimate court cases and fabricated charges, the torture and death. About everything that Russia — a terrorist country — continues to carry out with people who should never have ended up there in the first place,» — says director Olha Zhurba. She adds, — «It is a great tragedy that few people actually know about abroad. And those responsible for this, as well as those who carry it out, must be held accountable and punished. My initial idea was to unite two polar worlds: the world of life and art with the world of torture and death. Why does humanity allow this to happen simultaneously and on such a scale?».

The idea was realized with the help of Ukrainian multidisciplinary artist and designer Alisa Lyubomska. She developed the format and appearance of the embroidery:

«Embroidery is also an art form, so this format fit perfectly within the framework of the biennale. I chose hand embroidery, which made each letter unique and gave the text a handwritten appearance. Similar to what people write in letters, which are often the only, albeit uncertain, way to keep in touch with the imprisoned. Moreover, embroidery is our cultural code, and such elements provide an additional opportunity to show who we are; to demonstrate that this is part of our culture».

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The film was created by the Ukrainian film company Moon Man in co-production with international partners Final Cut for Real (Denmark), We Have a Plan (Sweden), Arte France (France), and Film i Skåne (Sweden). The producer of the film is Daria Bassel (Moon Man).