The Ukrainian documentary project "Militantropos" has been selected for the Cannes Film Festival, where it will be screened in the "Directors' Fortnight" program.
This information has been confirmed by the film's creative team. It is the only full-length Ukrainian film presented at Cannes this year.
The documentary catalog features details about this project, which consists of three films, each lasting 70 minutes. The films "MILITANTROPOS, PALINGENESION, COSMOMORPHOSIS" explore the impact of war on people and their environments.
Since 2022, the project has been actively seeking funding and received support, including €25,000 from the IDFA festival in 2024.
Considering that one of the directors is Alina Horlova, who gained recognition from the film "This Rain Will Never Stop", it is expected that the film will be abstract and experimental in style, featuring many artistic elements and editing techniques, – said film critic Sonya Vselyubska.
Joining the creative collective Tabor are director Elizabeth Smith and operators Vyacheslav Tsvetkov, Kristina Lizogub, and Denis Melnyk.
The film's title is a neologism created by the team, and they consider it a statement of their project:
"MILITANTROPOS (Latin 'milit' – warrior; Greek 'antropos' – human) is the essence a person acquires in a state of war. This extreme experience requires constant individual and collective transformation, which is why in times of upheaval, MILITANTROPOS chooses war as the only means to continue existing".
"Militantropos" is produced in co-production between Ukraine, Austria (MISCHIEF FILMS), and France (LES VALSEURS BORDEAUX). The Ukrainian producer is Yevhen Rachkovskyi, who also co-produced the documentary film about FEMEN called "Oksana".
In 2022, the Cannes festival hosted the world premiere of Maxim Nakonechnyi's debut feature film "Vision of a Butterfly", wherein he contributed as a screenwriter for "MILITANTROPOS". The project also welcomes Alexander Komarov, a Ukrainian philosopher and military personnel.
Last week, it was announced at the festival's press conference that Harris Dickinson's debut film "Urchin", featuring Ukrainian actress Karina Khymchuk, has been selected for the "Un Certain Regard" program at the Cannes Film Festival 2025.
About the Directors' Fortnight
The "Directors' Fortnight" is a parallel program of the Cannes Film Festival that has existed since 1969 and has become a platform for premieres by prominent directors like George Lucas and Martin Scorsese. In 2022, Ukrainian cinema was also featured with the world premiere of the film "Pamfir".