A camera can turn pain into spectacle. The ethical dilemma is how to capture war without compromising either the dignity of the participants or the audience’s perception.
Residents walk by debris and destroyed Russian vehicles in Bucha (Ukraine) on April 6, 2022 during Russia‘s full scale invasion of Ukraine. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Documentarians are often inspired to capture the reality of a war in order to creatively reflect the pain, both on a national and a personal level. Documentary cinema’s history shows that such circumstances can lead to groundbreaking films. Bill Nichols, a film theorist, wrote that “the successful careers of many documentarian filmmakers have been based on the misfortunes of others.”
During the 10 years of war in Ukraine, approaches to documenting the reality have evolved continuously. Ukrainian filmmakers have been accused of using the camera as a tool to record war crimes and their effects through various technologies.
Even with the best intentions, this weapon is capable of causing serious injury. The camera has a lot of power. It invades the personal space and can turn suffering into a spectacle. The ethical dilemma is to find the right balance between portraying war in an effective way and finding the ethical angle that will appeal to both the audience and the subject.
This question became critical when Mstyslav Cernov’s “20 Days in Mariupol”, the first Ukrainian film to win an Oscar, was announced. The film attracted global attention for its brutal depictions on suffering, pain and death. Chernov skillfully paired hyper-realistic images and a deeply personal story to mitigate ethical risks. He even blurred faces to reduce the stark realism.
Despite these efforts, however, the film raises a new ethical threshold for what is allowed to be shown onscreen. Future filmmakers will have to push past the boundaries Chernov crossed in order to impress international audiences once again.
When analyzing films that depict the full-scale invasion of Iraq and its victims in a frank manner, critics turn to theoretical reflections about the ethics of documenting the suffering. Susan Sontag’s book “Regarding the Pain of Others”, which explores the ethics of capturing and viewing suffering, is often cited.
Several studies have examined how audiovisual media can be used to represent sensitive war images. These works examine a variety of conflicts. However, they often reach the same conclusion. The sensitivity of viewers decreases with time. Even the most acute manipulations of the director will fail to fully convey the suffering of a victim, resulting in the devaluation their experience.
The good news is the ethical deadlock Ukrainian documentary films seemed to be facing did not happen. Instead, directors have transformed, finding new subgenres, and approaches. Recent war films are often more experimental and creative, focusing on a narrower angle to reflect war. The war, which is initially shocking and sudden, eventually becomes a static and prolonged frustration. Ukrainian documentary cinema has captured this evolution.
Documentaries that are based on observational research are becoming more popular. These films are primarily unmediated observations of the world, with minimal involvement from the filmmaker. Ukrainian documentaries are increasingly committing to static shots, and a certain distance from catastrophic events. The distance of the camera from the subject or event is often used to judge ethics. This leads to a lot of static shots and fewer close-ups.
Olga Zhurba, in “Songs of Slow Burning Earth,” metaphorically conveys a waning sensitivity towards war through observational filming. She also uses poetic editing. The film depicts the transition from shock to stability, capturing the phenomenon of normalization. Zhurba portrays suffering as a canvas covering all of Ukraine. It does not devalue any one experience, but instead incorporates it into a broader picture of the war and its aftermath.
JuriRechinsky’s “Dear Beautiful Beloved” is another notable example. It juxtaposes footage from the evacuation of corpses of soldiers with scenes of elderly evacuees living in temporary housing. Rechinsky keeps a distance from the dead while focusing on the elderly.
Oksana Karapovych’s “Intercepted”, a documentary that takes a unique approach, is a must-see. It is an observational documentary that uses long static shots to show the war-torn Ukraine. It minimizes people’s presence and avoids live footage. The audio of the film is what gives it its power – intercepted Russian occupiers‘ phone calls.
The juxtaposition between these calls and images of a devastated Ukraine creates an impactful cause-and effect narrative, shifting the focus away from the victims towards those responsible for their suffering. “Intercepted”, the most widely recognized Ukrainian film in 2024, is a striking example of how war can be depicted without exploiting pain.
Character-driven storytelling is another emerging trend in Ukrainian documentaries. These films are primarily focused on creating detailed portraits of people or social groups. They are often set against a backdrop of war. Filmmakers show their solidarity with their subjects’ pain by spending a lot of time with them, and using a more intimate cinematic style.
This approach is evident when “Mission 200” follows a volunteer who transports the bodies of soldiers. Director Volodymyr Syedko focuses on Tetyana’s monologues and allows her to gradually trust the camera. Bodies in black bags are kept in the background.
Character-driven documentaries can also be used to explore social contexts that are unfamiliar to Western audiences. Lesia Diak’s documentary “Dad’s Lullaby”, follows a man, who served in Donbas prior to the full-scale invasion and struggles to return to his family life. Diak, a woman who has had personal experience with posttraumatic behavior after dating a man in the military, navigates ethical risks by sharing on camera her own painful reflections, filming her from the same distance as her protagonist.
As the war continues, Ukrainian documentarians are finding new ethical approaches to keep their films in the global conversation. In the future, we can expect to see more innovative and thoughtful approaches as filmmakers try to balance the experiences of those who suffer with those who watch.
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed by the authors in the op/ed section do not reflect those of the Kyiv Independent.
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