The songs of slow burning earth
Directed: Olha Zhurba
Written: Olha Zhurba
Cinematography: Volodymyr Usyk, Viacheslav Tsvietkov, Misha Lubarsky
Editing: Michael Aaglund
Sound: Pavlo Melnyk
Music: Yaroslav Tatarchenko
Producers: Darya Bassel
Production: Moon man
Festivals and Awards: Venice Film Festival 2024 | Official Selection, CPH:DOX 2025 | Official Selection, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2025 | Official Selection, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2024 | Official Selection
An audiovisual diary of Ukraine during the first two years of Russia’s full invasion, made up of places, characters, dialogues, sounds and silences which capture how the war became normalized, from general panic to the numb acceptance of death and destruction. Against the backdrop of this (meta)physical landscape of collective disaster, a new generation of Ukrainians aspires to imagine the future.
Olha Zhurba is a Ukrainian filmmaker who graduated from Karpenko-Karogo National University of Theatre, Film and Television in Kiev, the Department of Cinema Documentary Directing. Her first short fiction film Dad’s Sneakers (2021) premiered in the shorts competition at Locarno Film Festival and shortly after won the Best Ukrainian Short and FIPRESCI awards at Odesa International Film Festival.