Film uses archival footage and semi-historical narrative to weave a complex exploration of identity, culture, and the power of archives in contemporary Ukraine. The video follows a young boy's 1995 outing with his family in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine (occupied by Russian proxy forces since 2014), while the adult voice of the child narrates his story from the present. His voice, however, is not his own. The story that he tells about Ukraine and Luhansk is explicitly framed as a narrative perceived by an American artist whose grasp of the situation is subject to media sensationalism, dramatic flourishes, and personal fetishism. Ultimately the film undermines its own authorship and our engagement with its drama, while also producing the story of a child who becomes a hero in a nation searching for hope.
7.2