The 79th Cannes Film Festival opened with little star power, long films, and cold wind. Yet Ukraine took center stage: according to the BBC, Russia’s war of aggression was a theme not only during Ukrainian screenings but also appeared as a backdrop in many other films.
Russian filmmakers reportedly brought an “anti-war film” but avoided the word “war.” For Ukraine, the highlight was the premiere of the feature film “Vesna” (Spring) about the lives of Ukrainians under occupation. The film screened in the “Special Screening” sidebar section and sold out within minutes.
“Vesna,” a co-production between France, Lithuania, and Estonia, tells the story of a priest who buries the bodies of people killed by Russians in a small occupied town. After the screening, French audience members asked the journalist whether Russians really burn the bodies of their own soldiers to avoid payments to relatives — a scene depicted in the film.
Source: www.bbc.com
