Ukrainians in Exile (2022) Short Film Review
“This is no longer a war, but a crime.”
This is one of the many results in which Anya expresses Janek Ambrose‘ short film Ukrainians in exile. In a 7-minute statement, he describes the inexplicable and unjustifiable effects of war in modern times. His voice is pleading and plaintively trying to paint a picture of how they experience the conflict from the inside. He stays away from stating his views on heroes or villains. Nothing but death and destruction. They lost. We all have it.
The timeline in Ambros’ film is unclear. It is not necessary to stay within a chronological logic, because the purpose of the short documentary is not to inform about a war that has been communicated a lot by the media. He is not an authority. But there’s no need for it now. It’s a picture of humanity against extremes and the unimaginable: fleeing the country you were born in because of a hunger for power that someone fantasizes about. They are victims and Anya is simply talking about being one in a modern society where tweeting or posting is more important than clearly questioning what is wrong.
Ukrainians in exile It’s an important statement, but it wouldn’t be without a visual language that Ambros should be really proud of. Anya has no face because her desperate claim belongs to thousands of prisoners of the most important conflict of the last 50 years. Ambros can speak linearly about a compelling message and simply film him for a few minutes. Instead, he wanders the streets of a nation in danger, focusing his camera on the Ukrainians who will be on the move in the near future. They never stop hoping for a way out of the physical hell that Russia has created out of greed.
Again, this is not a movie to determine who is right or wrong, although it is a logical explanation of who he really is. Ukrainians in exile a quick look inside the machinery created by the powers that be, parts of which are represented by people who have fled coercion. Ambros entered the area and managed to get a glimpse before extermination. His camera collapses from the tremors of fear and the inevitable realization of a monster’s hunger.
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