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The grim realities of the war in Ukraine are documented in ‘Flowers Beyond the Dark,’ one of the entries in the 20th Annual Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, being shown on April 11 at the Granada Theater in Hollister.
Directed by Iryna Pravylo, the film is set in the aftermath of the liberation of the region around Kyiv, the country’s capital, and focuses on the nearby cities of Bucha and Borodyanka.
As the Russian forces withdrew in February 2022, the full extent of the devastation was revealed, including wrecked roadways and bridges, bombed-out residential areas and the mass graves of more than 1,365 civilians. In Bucha alone, 458 bodies were exhumed.
“It was so shocking,” producer Yulia Zimmermann said. “And the world had to see it. Not just for the historical record, but also as evidence of the Russian war crimes in Ukraine.”
The film is prefaced by a quote from a 1953 speech by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer who coined the term “genocide.”
Referring to a previous attack by Russia on Ukraine in the 1930s, he is quoted as saying, “This is not simply a case of mass murder. It is a case of genocide, not of individuals but of a culture and a nation.”
The parallel holds. Opening with an ironically beautiful cinematographic style, the camera follows the road into Borodyanka, moving through a wasteland of broken concrete, destroyed tanks and a shattered apartment building. The journey ends at the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called Church.
There, Archpriest Andriy Halavin is filmed as he oversees an exhumation of civilians. Zimmerman said Halavin worked as a bridge between this operation and a community struggling to deal with the trauma.
“His story is a very important one,” she said. “He is there as a healer, but every day he welcomes international delegations to tell the truth about what happened. He is such a wise man, and he has incredible charisma that comes across the screen.”
Halavin’s story is one of three told in the film. We also meet artists Natalia Muzyka and Serhiy Vutianov, a couple who were separated by the violence and were, until the liberation, unable to speak to or see each other.
“They are very kind people,” Zimmerman said, “who were effectively hostages in their own homes. They were living under death threats every day. It was the horrific experience of being there completely alone.”
The third story is about two soldiers of the Armed Forces 72nd Brigade, Vitaliy Paliy and Serhiy Buldakov, who are guarding an evacuation route for civilians. Zimmerman said that the two give “incredible insights” into how the conflict has torn the country apart.
“We witness their philosophical conversations,” she said, “and we learn why they are there and what they’re fighting for. It’s very clear that they’re going to be fighting for their families in their country as long as it’s necessary.”
There is very little direct violence in the film: one scene of a helicopter being shot down, another of a burning tank, and occasional moments where the two soldiers fire off some rounds. But the aftereffects of the Russian invasion are apparent in every scene, at times in shocking detail.
Shooting a film in the first place, in an area where basic resources including electricity and running water are sporadic or unavailable, made every aspect of the shoot remarkably complex, Zimmerman said. The crew also faced a constant threat of enemy attack and worked under the suspicion of local authorities.
In the end, however, Zimmerman said she sees the film as an instrument of cultural diplomacy, an attempt to convey a message to people who may not be familiar with the war, its extent or its deadly impact.
“Our attention span is so little,” she said, “and people get very tired of hearing about wars. In Ukraine, something else happens, which gets pushed out of the news. So people often don’t really understand what happened.
Poppy Jasper director Mattie Scariot said she became interested in showing the film after learning that a Hollister native, Zimmerman’s partner Jason Porteur, was involved as a translator and creative consultant.
“I always try to tie the local community with the films,” she said. “Ukraine is on many people’s minds, and I was fascinated that there was somebody in Hollister who was helping to document the conflict.”
The film’s intensity, coming from firsthand experience, its humanity and its immaculate craftsmanship were also compelling to her, she said.
“It’s an interesting perspective on the war,” she said, “because they’re right there, they’re filming during the war, and seeing what everyone is going through. This is not a journalist filming the war. This is somebody who’s experiencing it, filming it, that’s pretty powerful.”
Trailer: Flowers Beyond the Dark
The Poppy Jasper Festival runs April 8 to 15 in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Juan Bautista and Hollister. “Flowers Beyond the Dark” will be shown on April 11 at the Granada Theater in Hollister. Tickets are available through the Poppy Jasper website, as is the full film schedule.
Visit Right Time Studios for more information on “Flowers Beyond the Dark” or its other films on Ukraine.
Destroyed bridge across the Irpin River, Ukraine. Courtesy of Right Time Studios. 
Natalia Muzyka in her kitchen. Courtesy of Right Time Studios. 
Bombed apartment building. Courtesy of Right Time Studios. 
Archpriest Andriy Halavin in the at the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called Church. Courtesy of Right Time Studios
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