Can cinema do justice to war

Can cinema do justice to war?

A year ago, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began. At this year’s Berlin Film Festival, there are many films that try to capture its horror. Turns out it always depends on perspective.

Those who regularly attend the Berlinale have learned in recent years to view the future with skeptical eyes. In 2020, there were rumors of a new virus from China at the end of the festival. Less than two weeks later, the first corona measures came into effect in Austria. In 2022, during the movie event, there were growing signs that Russian saber rattling on the Ukrainian border could turn into an attack. What happened just five days after the delivery of the Golden Bear.

Could you have guessed as a visitor to the Berlinale? Perhaps. At the time, two films were shown in the festival’s program that tried to convey that the “conflict” in the Donbass region, active since 2014, was nothing more than a growing war. Maryna Er Gorbach’s feature film “Klondike” depicted family life in embattled Donetsk, including the crash of passenger flight MH17. Taras Tomenko’s documentary “Terykony” vividly testified to the deep wounds that the fighting left in the population of eastern Ukraine, especially among children.

But the Berlinale has always seen itself as a kind of neutral zone, where films from countries with “problematic” regimes were also welcome – as long as they had artistic value. The film festival also screened a handful of Russian productions shortly before the start of the invasion; including – disconcerting in retrospect – “Brother in Every Inch”, the portrayal of two future military pilots. Clear: In Berlin, this once divided city, hope for reconciliation dies last. But she also dies here.