“I hope and believe that we will one day see a trial of Russian leaders. I will make a film of it, which will be called The Kiev Trial »: a great name in cinema in the post-Soviet space, the Ukrainian Serguei Loznitsa believes that Russia is engaged in a war « against Europe ».
Regularly invited to Cannes, with films like Madan (2014), on the Ukrainian revolution, or Donbass (2018), the 57-year-old director presented at the Cinéma du réel festival (currently in Paris, and until March 20) Mr. Landsbergis (2021), 4h30 dive into how Lithuania gained its independence from the USSR, between 1989 and 1991.
Semantic and legal quarrels, then sending of Soviet tanks to Vilnius by Gorbachev, desperate but heroic popular resistance… Thirty years apart, the film echoes in a striking way the war in ukraine.
“Contemporary Russia is an official heir to the USSR. You could say that it applies exactly the same methods to the Republics that surround it, ”comments the filmmaker to AFP.
In Lithuania, blood was spilled, but the story ended well: “it is important that this positive experience of resistance and liberation can be shared with everyone, and in particular with other peoples who want, or might want in the near future, to free ourselves from this “Russian monster”, he adds.
He, whose films on Ukraine take on a prophetic allure, judges that one “could not be unaware that the war was about to begin, when one knows all the underground currents of the region”.
For years, European leaders “did nothing, and their culpability is very important in this war today”, he judges.
“When you systematically analyze all the political events in Russia in recent decades, the only possible outcome is war. »
Chance of birth
But here, it’s not just “a war against Ukraine” warns the director: “it’s a war against Europe. Ukraine just happens to be the front line. »
“NATO and Europe must end up accepting the idea that they will not be able to avoid waging this war”, he continues: Vladimir Poutine “has no reason to let go. If he succeeds in wiping out Ukraine, other countries will follow and, for me, the next on the list are those of the Baltic”.
Serguei Loznitsa’s work has not finished with the history of Europe. He is putting the finishing touches to Natural history of destruction, a documentary “about the Allied bombing of German cities at the end of World War II”. “Obviously, once again, I did not expect it to resonate so much with today’s situation,” he said.
And [Poutine] manages to destroy Ukraine, other countries will follow
“Maybe my next film will be a film about this war [en Ukraine] ? It will be long, I fear, because while Europe watches from the sidelines, Russia will systematically destroy Ukraine, town after town. […]while the Ukrainian army will theoretically defend the territory step by step,” he continues.
But, as in the post-Soviet Lithuania shown in his film, in Ukraine “the people united around [son dirigeant, Volodymyr Zelensky] amazingly,” he notes. “That’s what gives me confidence that victory is on Ukraine’s side. Because you can’t defeat a people. »
Loznitsa also calls not to “boycott” Russian artists “who are against this war and this regime”, because it would be “treason”. “I call on everyone to remain reasonable and humane and not to judge everyone according to their passport, because it is the chance of birth, but according to their actions. »