Landscapes, occasional conversations and encounters, and sounds that weave in and out of the frame compose Songs of Slow Burning Earth. Captured in varying proximities to the frontline over two years, the audiovisual diary of Ukraine's immersion into the abyss of total war traces the subtle changes in Ukrainian society. The ragged chords of panic and horror of the first weeks of the russian invasion slowly morph into the numb stillness of the acceptance of death and destruction, which eventually becomes the tragic normality for the local population, but just an afterthought for the rest of the world. Against the backdrop of the (meta)physical landscape of collective disaster, a new generation of Ukrainians aspires to imagine the future.
Content warning: depiction of war
CREW:
Director: Olha Zhurba
Producer: Producer Darya Bassel Co-producers Anne Köhncke, Kerstin Übelacker
Cinematographer: Volodymyr Usyk, Viacheslav Tsvetkov, Misha Lubarsky
Sound: Pavlo Melnyk
Production
Production: Moon Man in co-production with Final Cut for Real, We Have a Plan, ARTE France and Film i Skåne
Sales:
Awards
Best Feature film at RIGA IFF,
Doc Future Award at Verzio IDFF,
Best film at Tertio Millennio Film Fest,
Special Jury Award at Rome Documentary FF,
Best Feature film at Big Sky Documentary FF
Director
Olha Zhurba
Olha Zhurba is a Ukrainian film director, editor and screenwriter. Her short fiction film Dad’s Sneakers (2021) premiered at the Locarno FF and later won awards at many international festivals. Dad’s Sneaker was a candidate for a nomination at the European Film Awards 2022. Outside (2022) is her debut documentary, which premiered at CPH:DOX and Hot Docs and won the Willy Brandt award at the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin and later the Japan Prize Award of Honor. She was also the editor of the festival hits and award-winning documentary films This Rain Will Never Stop (2021) by Alina Gorlova and Home Games (2018) by Alisa Kovalenko.
Selected Filmography
Songs of Slow Burning Earth (2024), Ukrainian Factory (2024), Outside (2022), Dad’s Sneakers (2021)
