Ukraine in the spotlight at Cannes Film Festival

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00:00In the trenches, with a Ukrainian platoon, fighting to win back territory in eastern

00:12Ukraine in 2,000 meters to Andrivka.

00:22Our war also takes us to the front line, the final part of the French philosopher Bernard

00:27Henri Lévy's Ukrainian Quartet series, and French documentary Zelenskyy, an archival

00:40portrait tracing the destiny of the actor who would become president.

00:46These three documentaries were screened on the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival,

00:50a reminder that the war has been raging for more than three years, a conflict that the

00:54exiled Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa has been documenting through his work.

01:01In The Prosecutor, an idealistic young lawyer takes up the case of a political prisoner,

01:14languishing in one of Joseph Stalin's jails in 1930s Russia.

01:18For Sergei Loznitsa, this story may be fictional and historical, but it has many contemporary

01:23parallels.

01:24I've been working on this historical era for years, and I believe that everything that's

01:30happening now is a direct consequence of this time.

01:33For example, in January, three lawyers who defended Alexei Navalny were imprisoned for their legal

01:41work.

01:44A stark warning about despots and the danger of failing to spot them until it is too late.

01:50I think it's not the film only about Russia or Eastern Europe.

01:56I think it's a movie about dictatorship everywhere, anywhere in the world, at any time.

02:03The prosecutor is in this year's official selection.

02:06Loznitsa is a Cannes darling.

02:09He most recently came to the Kwaset with a documentary, The Invasion, the second part

02:13of his Ukrainian diptych.

02:16Despite the red carpet being rolled out for Ukrainian cinema, he believes it is not enough.

02:21As long as the war is ongoing, the cultural world needs to do more to call for peace,

02:27for this madness to come to an end.

02:30The Cannes Film Festival has taken steps since the full-scale Russian invasion in February

02:352022.

02:36That year, the festival banned Russian films, a decision the festival's director Thierry

02:41Freymaud still stands by.

02:43When there is real and lasting peace and Russia ceases to be the aggressor of Ukraine, then

02:49we will change our policy on this matter.

02:54Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also made a special appearance by video link at the

02:59opening ceremony in 2022.

03:02He was met by a standing ovation and rapturous applause.

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