MIRA

Mira’s new friend asks him, to urgently send 200 dollars. The money is transferred, but Natascha hadn’t expected Mira to personally show up in Luhansk. There reality is obviously different, but Mira is a peaceable man. He devotes himself to a special task; to restore and conserve icons of the soviet era, such as those of Lenin and workers memorials. It doesn’t take long to find help.

The second feature film from Denis Shabaev is in many respects experimental. With a documentary perspective, he captures the atmosphere of the war region, that to outsiders appears almost absurd.  The rendition of the song “Besame Mucho” and Miras room in the hotel Concrete push the limits of credibility that - if it wasn’t a proper war - the audience would think it is satire. The cast made up of lay people essentially play themselves in the present. However, the pronounced heroism of the culture is viewed critically and attacked. MM