More than two and a half years after Russia first declared war on Ukraine aiming to annex its territory and erase the Ukrainian identity, the war continues. However, many believe that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has already lost strategically. This is because, in his attempt to dismantle Ukraine’s sovereignty and instill a Russian autocratic rule, he has only strengthened Ukraine’s resolve to protect its democracy and nurture an identity independent of Russia’s post-Soviet influence.
Ironically, Putin’s ambitions have rallied leaders and civilians towards Ukrainian nationalism, whilst the intensity of his attacks have drawn support for Ukraine from across the Western and European continents. Notably, many Ukrainians chose to remain in their homeland in defiance, despite numerous opportunities to become refugees.
In April 2022, Ukrainian-American filmmaker David Gutnik traveled to Warsaw with a plan to make a documentary about people displaced by the conflict. However, his focus shifted to the artists in Lviv, a western city in Ukraine near Poland, who’d decided to stay and continue their work amidst the war. His film, "Rule of Two Walls", documents the daily life in war, illustrating how life still goes on even in the harshest of circumstances.
The film showcases the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people, particularly its artists, who use their craft to process their experiences, assert their Ukrainian identity and resist Russian influence. Lyana Mytsko, the director of the Lviv Municipal Arts Center, explains that culture is a reflection of the people and so the persistent creation of Ukrainian art is a defiance against Putin’s assertion that Ukraine has no culture.
Gutnik also focuses on the human tragedy amidst the war, like the destruction of the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre, interviews with his crew members who have firsthand experiences of the conflict's atrocities and a touching scene of a young girl navigating past burned freight train tankers on a bicycle, a symbol of Ukraine's resilience and promise.
"Rule of Two Walls" is set to open at DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema in New York on Aug. 16, with a VOD release scheduled for Nov. 12.
