The premiere of the Ukrainian documentary “Flowers Beyond the Dark” (Flowers Beyond the Dark), created by Right Time Studios under the direction of director Irina Pravylo and producer Yulia Zi, took place at the Carmel International Film Festival in California. The film won the festival in the category “Best International Documentary Feature Film”.
This was reported by Nova Ukraine.
The film tells the story of the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, focusing on events in the Kyiv region during and after the occupation in the spring of 2022. The authors position it as evidence of Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine and at the same time as a film about the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
“‘Flowers on a Dark Background’ was created to bear witness to Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine, while highlighting the indomitability of the Ukrainian people,” Yulia Zi noted.
During the premiere, the Consul General of Ukraine in San Francisco Dmytro Kushneruk thanked the film’s team for their work.
“Such films and their participation in international festivals are an extremely important channel for communicating information about Russia’s war against Ukraine to an international audience.” He emphasized that the film is designed to “tell the world about Russia’s war against Ukraine, which is essentially a genocide of the Ukrainian people,” he noted.
The Right Time Studios team emphasized that this victory is an important step in their cultural mission.
“This recognition is an important milestone on our path to deeper interaction with the American audience and an incentive to action in support of the Ukrainian people,” the authors noted after the festival results were announced.
Additional screenings of the film took place on October 8 at Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema and on October 9 at Stanford University with live discussions with the participation of director Iryna Pravylo and producer Yulia Zi. The events were supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, Leleka Foundation, and the Congress of Cultural Activists.
“Flowers on a Dark Background” is the debut feature-length documentary work by Iryna Pravylo, which continues the tradition of Ukrainian poetic cinema established by Les Kurbas. The film is dedicated to the bright memory of Hero of Ukraine Andriy Verkhoglyad.
The authors of the film expressed their gratitude to all partners who helped implement the project and supported Ukrainian artists abroad.
Author: Danylo Pievchev