“History does not like jokes”

On Tuesday, Luhansk-based journalist Valentyn Torba will present three films for Ukrainian documentary connoisseurs: Lahidna svativska speka (Mild Heat in Svatove), a poetic short film about his hometown in the north of Luhansk oblast, which became a refuge for many migrants from the anti-terrorist operation zone, Ruina (The Ruin), the first part of the project Luhansk. Devianosti (Luhansk. The Nineties), and a short film Post Maidan. As the author himself says, it is hard to define the format of the films because neither of them was produced in accordance with a strict vision of applied technique. “For me, the shooting of these movies was an attempt to touch the reality with a camera, to see poetry, imagery in the reality. Perhaps this is the reason these films are permeated with frankness. And this frankness must sincerely motivate Kyivites to some thoughts and conclusions that peace is relative and history does not like jokes,” said Torba sharing his reflections. “And we must start accumulating antidote in time not to become a helpless toy, and then a victim of historic processes.”

According to the author, the idea to make a series of documentaries about Luhansk oblast of the 1990s came to him spontaneously. “It was an accident. Once I came across a photo of an odious local criminal of those times. I started writing memories of eyewitnesses about him, and little by little, the amount of observations and memories about him expanded from a half an hour material to five full-value films, in which a specific person was imbued in time,” Torba notes. “Without setting any specific goals for myself, I did not notice when I painted a portrait of the epoch. An epoch which, as it seemed then, would never come back again. People in Luhansk had jobs, received salaries, lived and loved each other, had children, and came home every night. Back then the 1990s seemed like a myth erased from memory. No one could think that a few months after the last part of Luhansk. The Nineties would be released, guns will be handed out to anyone who would produce their passport in my native town. It was like a nightmare to watch the time to spin backwards and we ended up not even in the 1990s, but in dark medieval times, without rights and guarantees for life.”

Kyivites and guests of the city will be able to see what Luhansk oblast of the 1990s was like on Tuesday, October 7, at 6:30 p.m. at the Cinema House (6 Saksahansky Street).