«Many of those who are in the Festivalito would now be in Ukraine at the front»
Ulyana Osvska, co-director with Denis Strashny of the contextualized anachrony in 'Tallin Tales of a toy horse', visits La Palma with Festivalito after the complicated adventure of leaving behind a country of his birth, Ukraine, subdued by the chaos of war. Fourteen hours of travel by bus and three flights which, however, does not detract from the clairvoyance of this young filmmaker with two feature length fiction to her credit. In fact, she confesses that she is torn between making a documentary about what is happening in her hometown or voluntarily joining the ranks, as Ukrainian women are doing. "Half the people who are at this festival filming and taking selfies would be on the front lines with a gun in my country," she says. Ulyana is also shooting a short film like the rest of the contest section participants. The Palm Wheel. His vision of a story on the Isla Bonita can be seen this Friday within the Short Film Marathon where the films of the 161 participants that are edited within the established deadline will be screened. This period ends on Friday itself, at 11:00 a.m.
-How is your experience at the Festivalito de La Palma?
-It has been quite an odyssey being here. It has come true thanks to the intrepid character of the organizers. I really like to travel, but the situation in Ukraine is difficult and leaving the country is a big and dangerous adventure. My arrival here has been great. It is a very beautiful festival in which everything is very pleasant. I only knew La Palma because of the subject of the volcano. Ukrainian society has a lot of empathy with everything that happens abroad despite our time. And everything that happened on the island was followed with great concern.
-The chaos on the island, saving the enormous distances, makes it similar to the war in Ukraine.
-Of course, we are talking about people deeply rooted in their towns and cities, in their homes. Who live by and for their land and suddenly find themselves stripped of everything. It is easy to feel that connection, that relationship with everything that happened with the volcano and the island. The big difference between the two facts is the human aspect. While in the first case the big question is why?, in the second there is talk of mercy and guilt. But in both cases everything seems like a natural disaster in which there seems to be no turning back, unfortunately. In the invasion of Ukraine, people are attacked, mainly. In many actions there is no military purpose, they only seek to harm the people, as in the issue of energy and supply. As if there was no human component behind it, as if it were something that must be assumed and that only people pay.
Ulyana Osovska and José Víctor Fuentes, director of the Festivalito de La Palma.
C7
- Do you think that reality can be changed from the cinema, from your documentaries?
-It is easy to point out what the problems are, who are the culprits, but it is much more difficult to take care of the responsibility we have as filmmakers. The objective is not to raise awareness among the people, it is to re-educate those people on whom situations of inequality depend. And I'm not talking about specific senior positions, but about ideologies violated by the current socioeconomic context. We know firsthand what is happening around us but in reality we do little to change it. What I think is that democratic values must always be defended, because if democracy ends, wars and dictatorships will come.
-Why did you choose the short story format for your documentary?
-I wanted to tell what is happening in my country, but in a totally innocent way, that's why he is a friar who tells stories of animals that have happened during the war in Ukraine. He wanted to enter the war, its cruelty and the reality of it from the inside and without us realizing it. What happens when they suddenly invade your town.
