Mariupolis 2

Seeds of hope thrive amidst great tragedy in this visually remarkable documentary. Shot in March 2022, only weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the film takes place inside and on the grounds of the titular city’s Christian Baptist Evangelical Church. From a woman making soup in the church’s backyard to men sweeping debris from the parking lot to the constant noise of shelling and the rising smoke of multiple fires, this extraordinary record reveals, without comment or voiceover, citizens valiantly trying to survive the daily terrors of war. That sense of tragedy and hope marks the story of the film itself: Russian soldiers captured and killed director Mantas Kvedaravičius, a Lithuanian filmmaker and anthropologist, in April 2022, leaving his partner Hanna Bilbrova to complete this vital account of a city (and country) besieged. Kvedaravičius’s tenderly framed moments of humanity during an unfolding global crisis gain fresh poignancy a year into the war.