Ukrainian Documentary Film at Cannes

The documentary film 'Militantropos' has been chosen to be featured at the Cannes Film Festival. It will be shown as part of the 'Directors' Fortnight' program.

This announcement was made by the film's team. Currently, it is the only full-length Ukrainian film presented in Cannes.

The docudays catalog notes that the project will consist of three films, each lasting 70 minutes. It states: 'MILITANTROPOS, PALINGENESION, and COSMOMORPHOSIS explore how the war in Ukraine transforms people and their environment.'

Since 2022, the project has been actively seeking funding for development and has garnered considerable attention. For instance, the IDFA documentary film festival supported the project with €25,000 in 2024.

Given that one of the directors is Alina Horlova, known for her successful film 'This Rain Will Never Stop', we can expect an abstract observational film filled with artistic elements and editing experiments,' said film critic Sonya Vsevolodovna.

Joining the creative group Tabor are: director Yelizaveta Smit, director Semen Mozgovoy, and operators Vyacheslav Tsvetkov, Kristina Lizohub, and Denis Melnyk.

The title of the new film project is a neologism conceived by the creative team, considered their statement:

'MILITANTROPOS (from Latin 'milit' - warrior; Greek 'antropos' - human) signifies the essence that a person acquires when entering a state of war. This extreme experience demands constant individual and collective transformation, thus in a state of shock, MILITANTROPOS chooses war as the only possibility to continue existing.'

'Militantropos' is produced in co-production with Ukraine, Austria, and France. The Ukrainian producer is Yevhen Rachkovskyi, who also co-produced the documentary film 'Oksana' about FEMEN.

In 2022, the world premiere of Maxim Nakonechny's debut feature film 'Vision of a Butterfly' took place in the 'Un Certain Regard' section, where he also joined as a screenwriter. Alexander Komarov, a Ukrainian philosopher and serviceman, has also joined the project.

Last week at the festival's press conference, it was announced that the debut film of Harris Dickinson, 'Urchin', featuring Ukrainian actress Karina Khimchuk, has been selected for the 'Un Certain Regard' program of the Cannes Film Festival 2025.

About 'Directors' Fortnight'

'Directors' Fortnight' is a parallel program of the Cannes Film Festival, existing since 1969, providing a platform for premieres of films by renowned directors such as George Lucas and Martin Scorsese. In 2022, Ukrainian film 'Pamfir' also premiered here.