The Maidan: a Kharkiv student’s view

To mark an anniversary of the Maidan February events, the filmmakers’ association Babylon’13 is presenting a full-length documentary film, Captives. On February 23, Lviv’s movie theater Planeta Kino/Forum premiered the picture in the presence of the film crew. The film will be shown nationwide from February 25 onwards.

Captives is the story of Sashko Klochko, a young Kharkiv biology student. Babylon’13 first planned to spotlight the investigation of crimes against the Heavenly Hundred. In the course of filming, they met Sashko who told them about his participation in the Maidan events in those terrible days.

“During the unrest, Oleksandr Klochko (Sashko) pressed a paramilitary police serviceman against the wall in the October Palace corridor a few steps from the sniper fire line. The soldier, who looks like Sashko, is exhausted almost to death and confused. Sashko persuades him to lay down his arms and takes him prisoner. This soldier is a metaphorical image of Sashko from the other side of the barricades,” the film’s official website says.

“We began to look for this soldier and, at the same time, clarify what was exactly occurring on the Maidan at that moment. We found the other of our two heroes, a person who caused the retreat of the governmental forces. He is prepared to bear the blame and is not afraid of punishment. The film’s main idea is responsibility of the individual for their actions. Each must answer for what they have done,” the director Volodymyr TYKHY told The Day.

It took about 18 months to make the film. As it was planned to show some bits that could not be shot, they decided to use animation. This was done by the Ukrainian animator Anatolii Lavrenishyn.

The Babylon’13 studio expects to show its film all over Ukraine. Even in the places where there are no movie theaters, this will be done by means of DVD projection.