The ongoing horrors of war in Ukraine have raised questions for art communities around the world: How can we meaningfully respond to this crisis? How can we support and defend artists and art in the face of cultural and material destruction? And how can art, and cinema in particular, help us grapple with our collective past and present? To delve into these questions, Film Comment editors Clinton Krute and Devika Girish invited two scholars, Anastasiya Osipova and Lukas Brasiskis, to the podcast. Lukas, a curator at e-flux, recently programmed films by the contemporary Ukrainian artists Piotr Armianovski and Mykola Ridnyi as a fundraiser event. With these two films as a starting point, Osipova and Brasiskis describe the cinema of Ukraine—from the archival documentaries and searing fictions of Sergei Loznitsa, to the work of Sergei Parajanov, Larisa Shepitko, and many more—and its relevance to the current moment. The two also discuss ongoing efforts by the Dovzhenko Film Center to protect the material culture of Ukraine, and much more. For a list of resources, links, and suggestions for donations, visit: https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/the-film-comment-podcast-ukrainian-cinema

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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