Short Documentary
Director: Piotr Armianovski
Country: Ukraine
Language: Russian
Length: 10 Minutes
Synopsis: A Donetsk-born director Piotr Armianovski is talking to people in search of the Mariupol he remembers from his childhood (Source: Takflix.com)
Availability: Me and Mariupol is available on Demand on Takflix.com
About the Director:
Piotr Armianovski was born in Donetsk. He had to flee his home city in 2014 after it was occupied by the Russia-backed separatists. He is a performer, a writer, a theatre and film director.
Since the war conflict started in his home city Piotr focuses on documentaries. His films received awards at Docudays UA, Open Night, Biennale of Young Art. In 2020 Armianovski received the Gaude Polonia scholarship from the Ministry of Arts and National Heritage of Poland. Also, Piotr shares his knowledge with younger artists at various workshops. Currently, he is staying in Kyiv.
Further Information:
“A nostalgic documentary tribute to the Ukrainian coastal town of Mariupol. Is it possible to blend out the reality of war with the help of dreams and fairy-tales? This reflection on past and present, war and peace and the value of parallel intellectual words attempts to find an answer”. (Source: FilmFestival Cottbus)
“The central themes of the artist’s short films are political and social hardships. They permeate the everyday life of people and affect their daily reflections. Their hopes and dreams. Armianovski asked the heroes of his movie to dream on behalf of the city of Mariupol, located in the southeast of Ukraine. Directly on the border with the occupied territories and the conflict zone. Collective fantasies of a better future are intertwined in the footage with individual memories of the better past. Armianovski wanders with the camera in the places associated with his childhood memories that are now in ruins.
The gloomy and tedious landscapes in the frame vividly contrast with the poetic intonation of the narrator. Behind the scenes he is looking for a “fairy tale” among the symbols of the former strength of the city. The only thing that remains unchanged is the sea. Today its dim surface sends the artist back to the memories of the Donetsk’s steppes. And the dream of a “miracle for Mariupol” becomes a projection of the artist’s grief over his home” (Source: Ludwig Museum – Budapest)
Me and Mariupol on Piotr Armianovski – The Official Site
Takflix.com