I Stumble Every Time I Hear From Kyiv
17’ | 2022 | Ukraine, Belgium | hybrid documentary
“I have no words to say” is the phrase one can often hear when the reality of the war is so striking that language seems to be incapable of describing it. While studying in Brussels, Daryna Mamaisur is caught up in the russian full-scale invasion of her country. In the springtime, when chestnut trees are blooming at the same time in Brussels and Kyiv, she makes a film capturing that spring in the distance. Keeping a visual correspondence with a friend from Kyiv, she faces the question: while making a film about war, how to speak about the wound that is fresh and ongoing?
in collaboration with Tetiana Usova
with Sonia Pastecchia
director Daryna Mamaisur images Shaheen Ahmed, Tetiana Usova editing Daryna Mamaisur sound recording Laura Castillo, Tetiana Usova, Kateryna Voznytsya production DocNomads poster design Marina Kelleny
available for streaming on dafilms.com
Festivals and Awards:
2023
Visions du Réel, Nyon, Switzerland
Docudays UA IHRDFF, Kyiv, Ukraine (Andriy Matrosov Award)
Her Docs Festival, Warsaw, Poland
4:3 Ivano-Frankivsk International Short Film Festival, Ukraine
Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, Ukraine
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Paris, France
Ukrainian Film Festival in Berlin, Germany
Kassel Dokfest, Germany
Kyiv International Short Film Festival, Ukraine
2024
Screening at Camera Commune, New Delhi, India
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Kino Pavasaris Film Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania
Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga, Latvia
DocAlliance Award nomination
FIDMarseille Film Festival, France
DOKLeipzig Film Festival, Germany
It is springtime and the hazel trees are in bloom. In Brussels. In Kyiv. Despite the sirens and plumes of smoke that darken the sky. <...> Her film is born from this quandary, and articulates two situations: the director begins to take singing and diction lessons, a way for her to embody language in order to bring out the words that will exorcise her inner wounds. At the same time, she sets up an audio and video exchange with one of her friends who is still in Ukraine, and who prefers to speak about bird song, the rain falling on Kyiv in May or life with her partner, rather than the roar of bombs. Weaving together voices and sounds that focus on the fragility of a banal and reassuring everyday life, I Stumble Every Time I Hear From Kyiv speaks implicitly yet powerfully about the experience of war.
Emmanuel Chicon [Visions du Réel]
I Stumble Every Time I Hear From Kyiv
17’ | 2022 | Ukraine, Belgium | hybrid documentary
“I have no words to say” is the phrase one can often hear when the reality of the war is so striking that language seems to be incapable of describing it. While studying in Brussels, Daryna Mamaisur is caught up in the russian full-scale invasion of her country. In the springtime, when chestnut trees are blooming at the same time in Brussels and Kyiv, she makes a film capturing that spring in the distance. Keeping a visual correspondence with a friend from Kyiv, she faces the question: while making a film about war, how to speak about the wound that is fresh and ongoing?
in collaboration with Tetiana Usova
with Sonia Pastecchia
director Daryna Mamaisur images Shaheen Ahmed, Tetiana Usova editing Daryna Mamaisur sound recording Laura Castillo, Tetiana Usova, Kateryna Voznytsya production DocNomads poster design Marina Kelleny
available for streaming on dafilms.com
Festivals and Awards:
2023
Visions du Réel, Nyon, Switzerland
Docudays UA IHRDFF, Kyiv, Ukraine (Andriy Matrosov Award)
Her Docs Festival, Warsaw, Poland
4:3 Ivano-Frankivsk International Short Film Festival, Ukraine
Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, Ukraine
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Paris, France
Ukrainian Film Festival in Berlin, Germany
Kassel Dokfest, Germany
Kyiv International Short Film Festival, Ukraine
2024
Screening at Camera Commune, New Delhi, India
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Kino Pavasaris Film Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania
Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga, Latvia
DocAlliance Award nomination
FIDMarseille Film Festival, France
DOKLeipzig Film Festival, Germany
It is springtime and the hazel trees are in bloom. In Brussels. In Kyiv. Despite the sirens and plumes of smoke that darken the sky. <...> Her film is born from this quandary, and articulates two situations: the director begins to take singing and diction lessons, a way for her to embody language in order to bring out the words that will exorcise her inner wounds. At the same time, she sets up an audio and video exchange with one of her friends who is still in Ukraine, and who prefers to speak about bird song, the rain falling on Kyiv in May or life with her partner, rather than the roar of bombs. Weaving together voices and sounds that focus on the fragility of a banal and reassuring everyday life, I Stumble Every Time I Hear From Kyiv speaks implicitly yet powerfully about the experience of war.
Emmanuel Chicon [Visions du Réel]