\n\tTwo-time Berlinale Silver Bear winner Ma\u0142gorzata Szumowska (\u201cBody,\u201d \u201cMug\u201d) and longtime collaborator Micha\u0142 Englert have quietly wrapped production on \u201cBodies (of War),\u201d a documentary feature about the fragility and resilience of lives reshaped by the Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe filmmakers, who are currently in post-production<\/a> on \u201cThe Idiot(s),\u201d starring \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d breakout Aimee Lou Wood and Johnny Flynn, spoke to\u00a0Variety\u00a0ahead of Poland\u2019s Millennium Docs Against Gravity<\/a> festival, where the film premieres in competition on May 8.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBodies (of War)\u201d documents the toll of the four-year-old war in Ukraine through the perspectives of an eclectic cast of characters. In Lviv, behind the war\u2019s frontlines, veterans at a rehabilitation center fight to regain both their physical and psychological strength. In Warsaw, a transgender refugee tries to build a new life through dance and art. Last are the members of Open Group, a Ukrainian contemporary art collective that attempts to confront the war through its artistic practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tInterspersed with archival footage, their stories offer a lyrical meditation on the price paid by millions since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as a reflection on what might emerge from the war\u2019s aftermath and \u201chow wounded our societies will stay after this traumatic experience,\u201d says Englert.<\/p>\n \n\tProduction on \u201cBodies (of War)\u201d began in Lviv, Ukraine, not long after the Russian invasion, where the filmmakers followed wounded soldiers struggling to rebuild their bodies and lives, revealing what the duo describe as \u201can unexpected form of heroism.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut as fighting intensified, and traveling behind the war\u2019s frontline became too dangerous, the filmmakers returned to Warsaw \u201cto find new heroes, new layers, new perspectives to adapt to this story,\u201d says Englert, who is also credited as the film\u2019s cinematographer.<\/p>\n \n\tTheir search for additional protagonists eventually led them to Dana Vitkovska, a Ukrainian transgender multidisciplinary artist living in Warsaw, whose journey to construct her identity on her own terms sets her at odds with Polish bureaucrats. Meanwhile, members of the Open Group art collective, which represented Poland at the Venice Biennale, attempt to \u201ctransmit the trauma of war into art,\u201d according to Englert, even as one of their own decides to stay behind in Ukraine to fight.<\/p>\n \n\tAt first glance, says Szumowska, it was far from clear whether those narratives would work in harmony with each other. \u201cIt was a struggle making this film,\u201d she says. \u201cWe weren\u2019t sure about the result until the final moment where we put the puzzle together. Then we saw that it works. It has a kind of strength and power and links to our previous work, through the perspective of the body and the physical aspect of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPremiering at Millennium Docs Against Gravity, the documentary film festival that takes place simultaneously across seven Polish cities from May 7 \u2013 17, has a special significance for the filmmakers, who will debut \u201cBodies (of War)\u201d in their native Warsaw at one of Europe\u2019s leading showcases of documentary film.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve been dreaming of having a premiere there,\u201d says Szumowska. \u201cWe are very excited. We are hoping this is the beginning of the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two-time Berlinale Silver Bear winner Ma\u0142gorzata Szumowska (\u201cBody,\u201d \u201cMug\u201d) and longtime collaborator Micha\u0142 Englert have quietly wrapped production…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[64843,2000,299,263570,263571,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-943690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-documentaries-to-watch","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-malgorzata-szumowska","12":"tag-millennium-docs-against-gravity","13":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116533089274115142","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}