Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont
Documentary | Denmark/Ukraine | Ukrainian w/English subtitles | International version | 55 mins
Presented by VTIFF & Vermont PBS
Host Sponsor: Main Street Landing
Introduced by Eric Ford, Director of Programming at VTPBS and followed by Q&A with Adrian Ivakhiv. Adrian is Professor of Environmental Thought and Culture at the University of Vermont, where he holds the Steven Rubenstein Professorship for Environment and Natural Resources. His research and teaching are focused at the intersections of ecology, culture, media, religion, philosophy, and the arts. He has been researching cultural and environmental politics in Ukraine since 1989 and is currently working on a book on the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident and the philosophy of time.
*** Sunday Best screenings are FREE with a suggested donation of $5, but it is highly recommended to book in advance.
POV broadcast date: 8/5/2019
These screenings differ from their broadcast counterparts – they are uncensored, there are no commercial pop-ups to distract and they are always followed by a discussion with a speaker.
Beautifully observed and edited across a three-year timespan, Lereng Wilmont’s film subtly depicts the low-level normalization of the panic that sets in when living under constant gunfire. An unexpected but eminently worthy selection for this year’s Oscar documentary shortlist, The Distant Barking of Dogs has been quietly racking up kudos on the festival circuit since scooping the First Appearance Award at IDFA in 2017. Set in Eastern Ukraine on the frontline of the war. The film follows the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg throughout a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of war. Oleg lives with his beloved grandmother, Alexandra, in the small village of Hnutove. Having no other place to go, Oleg and Alexandra stay and watch as others leave the village. Life becomes increasingly difficult with each passing day, and the war offers no end in sight. In this now half-deserted village where Oleg and Alexandra are the only true constants in each other’s lives, the film shows just how fragile, but crucial, close relationships are for survival. Through Oleg’s perspective, the film examines what it means to grow up in a war zone. It portrays how a child’s universal struggle to discover what the world is about grows interlaced with all the dangers and challenges the war presents.