The premiere of Magura took place in Cambridge on Friday (14 June) with a screening of the film accompanied by a panel discussion.
Magura \- the name for the Ukrainian goddess of war and victory - tells the story of a Ukrainian woman’s love for her partner, who joins the Ukrainian army to fight the Russians.
After setting the scene - a bit of playful BDSM - he’s off to the front. The documentary footage of the horrors of war that follows could be any war, any conflict. Then the partner is missing in action. The woman and their child struggle with the emotional aftermath until victory finally comes.
All this condensed into 12 minutes of cinematic action.
The intensity of the film resides in the fact that this war is still being fought. It is so full of standout images that it takes quite a while to process. The cello player sitting in the midst of ruined apartment blocks - is it Mariopul, Kharkiv, Kherson? The moment when the film’s creator, Anna Starushkevych, has an out-of-body experience and arrives back in the present from a flashback. The sombre, almost entombed, mood in the church as the ensemble plays. The barbarity of conflict. The little girl singing a Ukrainian lullaby. The moment after Anna starts singing, when you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium at Downing Place United Reform Church.
In her introduction before the film is shown Anna, a Ukrainian opera singer and Cambridge resident who has lived in England 16 years, paid tribute to her cameraman and right-hand man, former BBC writer/director Paul Bradshaw.
Citing Paul’s “consistent and unwavering support”, Anna said of the film’s origins: “As a musician, I decided to use my professional skills to highlight the situation in Ukraine and the issues around it. It was a challenging and deeply moving experience. The aim is to trigger discussion about the issues and topics.”
Paul told the audience: “The situation in Ukraine had been in the back of my mind since the Maidan Uprising of 2014. [In February 2014, 103 protesters were killed by pro-Putin government forces around Kyiv’s independence square.] At the time I was working at the BBC. It seemed anachronistic that here we were in the heart of Europe in the 21st century, facing brutal terrorism.”
The film was then shown to the 50-strong audience at Downing Place United Reform Church. The funds raised by Magura will be made available to UAID International, for forwarding to Platsdarm, a volunteer-run charity that supports families who have lost loved ones in Ukraine. The charity was started by Dr Natalia Tronenko, who thanked the audience and the British public “for their unwavering support”.
“Our main aim is to support families,” she said of UAID’s participation.
During the panel discussion Olena Tertyshnyk, a Ukrainian clinical psychologist based in London and Kyiv, spoke about the issues and challenges people who have lost loved ones face. Paul Bradshaw spoke of the “determination of people determined to keep living their daily lives” in Lviv, where one section of Magura was filmed.
Magura is produced by the Music Will Save The World foundation, which was announced earlier this year.
After the event Dr Tronenko said: “UAID had the honour of supporting the UK premiere of Magura and a long overdue discussion of the missing people of war at Downing Place Church in Cambridge.
“We are grateful to Anna Starushkevych, who has been the driving force behind this event, and to the panellists Paul Bradshaw, Olena Tertyshnyk, and Mike Scialom for sharing their insights on the possibility of healing.
“Thanks to the generous donations of everyone who came to support this event, we've raised £569 so far. All the funds raised will be directed to Platsdarm, a charitable organisation helping families whose loved ones are missing.”
The event was sponsored by Cambridge4Ukraine; Cambridge Independent; Cambridge Ukrainian Studies and UAID International.
If you'd like to support this cause please visit the JustGiving page here.
