“Mariupolis 2” by Mantas Kvedaravičius, a war documentary set on the grounds of Ukraine’s Christian Baptist Evangelical Church, will have its Bay Area premiere on Friday, April 14, at 6:15 p.m. at the 66th San Francisco International Film (SSFILM) Festival.
Refuge in Church
Variety reported that "Mariupolis 2" is a gripping and unfiltered documentary that captures the realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The film was directed by Lithuanian filmmaker and anthropologist Kvedaravičius, who tragically lost his life during the siege of Mariupol on April 2, 2022, when he was taken captive and shot by Russian soldiers.
Kvedaravičius had been documenting the lives of Ukrainian civilians who had sought refuge in a church, and the film was intended to be a sequel to his earlier work, "Mariupolis," released in 2016.
Following Kvedaravičius's death, his partner Hanna Bilbrova completed the film and is credited as co-director.
The entire documentary takes place within the Christian Baptist Evangelical Church.
The church is a grand brick building with a mix of medieval and modernist architectural features, including two circular windows and red brick columns.
The film portrays the lives of roughly two dozen civilians who have taken shelter in the church's basement. This is where they pray, eat meals together, and wait in uncertainty for what the future may bring.
According to Variety, the war had caused widespread destruction, with debris and rubble everywhere.
Although the war had retreated during the filming, the constant sound of bombs and gunfire in the distance created a sense of lingering danger.
The debris, which is a major element of war, is shown as a mess that can't be cleaned up, symbolizing the randomness of war.
Despite this, the film also shows people attempting to clean up and move on, suggesting resilience in the face of destruction.
As a filmmaker, Kvedaravičius does not romanticize or beautify the war in his documentary "Mariupolis 2".
Instead, the film presents a series of raw and unfiltered shots, edited together poetically and emotionally to give coherence to the experiences of those caught in the chaos of war in Ukraine.
The film provides a valuable glimpse into the reality of war through its vérité snapshots of small events that capture life as it is lived during wartime.
This allows the audience to feel and understand the impact of the conflict on individuals and communities.
San Francisco International Film Festival
The 66th SSFILM will showcase films from 37 different countries and highlight new works by filmmakers from the Bay Area.
The program was selected from over 5,000 submissions and invitations and will only be shown from April 13 to April 23.
Jessie Fairbanks, the Director of Programming for SFFILM, stated that the curatorial team prioritized films with powerful storytelling and exceptional narrative craft that bring people together through cinematic expression.
The festival will take place in theaters across the Bay Area.
CGV San Francisco will serve as the central hub of the festival, featuring a hospitality lounge presented by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for guests to socialize between screenings.
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