{"id":6847,"date":"2024-06-07T06:27:26","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T04:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/mariupol-a-hundred-nights-a-story-not-yet-forgotten\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T10:06:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T09:06:49","slug":"mariupol-a-hundred-nights-a-story-not-yet-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/mariupol-a-hundred-nights-a-story-not-yet-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariupol. A Hundred Nights – A Story Not Yet Forgotten"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Thoughts about the animation film “Mariupol. A Hundred Nights” by Sofiia Melnyk and Andrii Palatnyi portraying a young girl who loses her family and home in Mariupol following the Russian invasion in 2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this year\u2019s International Trick Film Festival’s award ceremony in Stuttgart, Hungarian filmmaker Fl\u00f3ra Anna Buda won the Grand Prix for her film “27.” Accepting the award, Buda dedicated her film to adults living with their parents. Her 18+ film depicts a 27-year-old woman whose intimate fantasies clash with the “harsh reality” of living with her family due to high accommodation costs in France. The audience responded warmly, likely empathizing with the protagonist\u2019s struggle for privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Buda’s acceptance, the jury announced a “special mention” for the film “Mariupol. A Hundred Nights” by Sofiia Melnyk and Andrii Palatnyi. The audience observed a moment of silence before applauding Sofiia Melnyk as she approached the stage. The “harsh reality” of the previous film faded immediately upon the mention of “Mariupol.” <\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n\"Sofia

\n Sofia Melnyk receives Special Mention at the International Trick Festival in Stuttgart, 2024. Photo: Reiner Pfist <\/p>\n <\/figure>\n\n\n

\nSofiia Melnyk: Highlighting the Ukrainian Struggle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sofiia Melnyk, a Ukrainian illustrator and animator, graduated from the Animation institute at the Filmakademie Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg in 2018. Since then, she has worked as a freelancer, focusing on projects that communicate Ukrainian issues to the world and promote Ukrainian art. Her film “Mariupol. A Hundred Nights” has screened at numerous festivals in 2023, including Vienna Shorts, Krakow Film Festival, and Animafest Zagreb, winning several awards such as the 2nd Prize in short competition at Athens Animfest 2023, Best Short Animated Film at Krakow Film Festival, and Best Animation at Ukraine\u2019s Linoleum Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\nThe visuals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A powerful 7-minute, dialogue-free film portrays a young girl who loses her family and home in Mariupol following the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. The film uses contrasting elements to tell its story. The animation, drawn in 2D with charcoal or pastel reminiscent of a child\u2019s drawing on asphalt, is set against collage-like backgrounds made from black-and-white photographs of Mariupol\u2019s destruction. This blend grounds the animation in a stark, documentary-style reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visual style is minimalist, with a palette dominated by black and white. Red highlights the fires and blood, while blue appears only in the protagonist’s eyes, her tears, and the ghosts she sees. This restrained use of color amplifies the emotional intensity of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Melnyk, known for her use of mythology and symbolism, continues this approach. Russia is depicted as a giant bear attacking Ukraine, while dead birds around the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre symbolize the women and children who hid there before it was bombed by Russian forces on March 16, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capturing the horror of war is challenging, but this film achieves it through music. A monotonous recitation of a poem by Vasyl Stus, a Ukrainian poet and dissident persecuted by the Soviet regime in the 1970s and 1980s, is paired with the sounds of a moving train. This combination creates a haunting effect, contrasting sharply with the story of the little girl:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cthe wheels, they hit, the wheels, they hit,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

they roll us somewhere else,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we`ll never be back home again,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we`ll never see that place\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protagonist\u2019s eyes are a focal point, with altogether 25 seconds dedicated to them. Through her eyes, viewers witness the burning city, providing a poignant perspective on the war\u2019s devastation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film ends with a nod to drawings by Yehor, a 9-year-old boy whose diary of the invasion became widely known<\/a> by their brutally honest yet childlike observations of the war in Mariupol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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