The Cinematheque

“Loznitsa offers something that these days is rare and precious: close-up coverage of history in the making that doesn’t have ​‘breaking news’ ribbons or network logos plastered all over it.”

Jonathan Romney, The Guardian

In November 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s about-face decision not to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union, and instead to pursue closer ties with Russia, sparked a wave of fierce and deadly protests on the site of Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The protests, known as the ​“Revolution of Dignity,” marked a shift in Ukrainian society towards more democratic values. The mostly static camera in Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary puts viewers directly inside the heavy atmosphere of these demonstrations. While it remains largely still, Loznitsa’s camera selectively breaks its stasis to capture impactful scenes and the multigenerational faces of participants who share their stories. Like Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera, Maidan is a film in which nothing and everything seems to be happening at once—a mesmerizing archival record of events that would alter Ukrainian society forever.

In Ukrainian and Russian with English subtitles