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FREEDOM ON FIRE: UKRAINE’S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM

director: Evgeny Afineevsky

original title: FREEDOM ON FIRE: UKRAINE’S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM

country: Ukraine, United States, United Kingdom

year: 2022

running time: 114 min.

synopsis

In 2013–2014, Evgeny Afineevsky captured the protests of Ukrainians against the authoritarian regime of Viktor Yanukovych which lasted for several months. Continuing the event of the emotional Winter on Fire documentary, the director has filmed another testimony to the courage and unity of the Ukrainian people. After summarizing the eight turbulent years that followed the Euromaidan, the director focuses on the initial stage of the Russian invasion to Ukraine in February 2022. The stories of civilians, soldiers, journalists, doctors as well as foreign volunteers paint a horrific picture of a humanitarian catastrophe but also of extraordinary resilience. Unsettling shots of destroyed cities and dismembered bodies are accompanied by a voiceover by Helen Mirren.

“I’m trying to express the voices of innocent people. Soldiers, doctors, mothers, children, journalists, priests, and people under siege. I want leaders to witness this with their own eyes. You can visit a broken building, but if you have no connection to the people that lived inside it, why would you care?” — Evgeny Afineevsky

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Source: https://deadline.com/2022/09/evgeny-afineevsky-interview-freedom-on-fire-venice-film-festival-russia-ukraine-conflict-1235108759/

biography

Producer, director and cinematographer Evgeny Afineevsky was born in Kazan, Russia in 1972. In the 1990s, he acquired Israeli citizenship and directed theatrical musicals in his new homeland. He is currently living in the USA. Besides documentaries on the war in Ukraine (Winter on Fire) and the war in Syria (Cries from Syria) he also made a documentary on pope Francis.

more about film

director:	Evgeny Afineevsky
producer:	Evgeny Afineevsky, Will Znidaric, Ted Hope, Galyna Sadomtseva-Nabaranchuk, Shahida Tulaganova, Inna Goncharova
photography:	Andriy Dubchak, Alex Kashpur, Borys Yakovenko, Dmytro ‘Orest’ Kozatsky, Evgeny Afineevsky, Galyna Sadomtseva-Nabaranchuk, Inna Goncharova, Misha Djos, Viktor Hrom, Viktor Kozhevnikov, Shahida Tulaganova, Alyona Gramova, Anastasia Volkova, Constantin Shandybin, Danylo Panasiuk, Georgia Rodger, Oleksandr Pohrebnyi, Oleksandr Solovii, Oleksii Dvornyk, Oleksiy Bobovnikov, Vasyl Solovii, Yehor Dallievskyi
editing:	Will Znidaric, Jan Supa, Ted Woerner, Alexander Chernobrovkin, Maria Yaremchuk, Maksym Korzhan, Maksym Smoliarchuk, Tom Mika, Maxim Mironov
music:	Jasha Klebe
co-producer:	Jan Supa, Stacy Kessler-Aungst, Alexander Chernobrovkin, Viktor Kozhevnikov
executive producer:	Irena Medavoy, Mark Monroe, Angus Wall, Jennifer Sofio Hall, Tomáš Srovnal, Ian Lundin, Bohdan Batruch, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Robert Fyvolent, James Costa

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