By Denise Dunbar | ddunbar@alextimes.com
We know war can extract the very soul from soldiers who witness, and sometimes participate in, unspeakable atrocities. Literature abounds with tales of epic, bloody battles, as in Michael Shaara’s “Killer Angels” and the unhealable injury suffered by many who fight, such as characters in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and Sébastien Japrisot’s “A Very Long Engagement.”
We also know that countries whose territory is invaded during wars suffer horrific losses. Such devastation is documented daily in news reports from war zones around the world.
Less is written about the cost to the families of those who fight.
“The Sound of the Wind,” a documentary by Ukrainian filmmaker Maria Pankova, effectively tackles this topic. The film is spoken mostly in Ukrainian with English subtitles – though the AFF program mistakenly says the language is Croatian. It depicts how Yulia and her two adopted daughters – who take refuge in Scotland while her husband/their father fights on the front lines in Ukraine following the February 2022 Russian invasion – survive mentally and physically.
Yulia, who was a chef in Ukraine, finds work in a Scottish butchery to support herself and her children. She keeps mind and body together through exercise: hiking in the glorious Scottish mountains, running through town and sometimes just jogging in place late at night outside their home. Effective use is made of video conversations with husband/father Roman, who is on the front lines of the war back in Ukraine.
The danger of war is juxtaposed with the butchery of animals raised for human consumption, raising the unspoken question of the human capacity for butchery of all kinds. The veins in cut meat are juxtaposed with the outlines of bare tree branches. The peacefulness of Scotland is a stark contrast to the war raging in Yulia’s homeland. And wind over Scottish hills can sound a lot like the swish of a rocket.
On top of everything else, Yulia confides in the documentary that her marriage was on shaky ground prior to the war. Even if her family survives, her marriage may not.
Pankova, who had a background in Ukrainian television before becoming a documentary cinematographer, herself took refuge in Scotland after the Russian invasion, according to dcdoxfest.com. Pankova sought and received funding from the Scottish Documentary Institute to create “The Sound of the Wind,” which premiered last year at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
The terrific question-and-answer sessions with filmmakers that are held after most of the films are always a highlight of the AFF. Sadly, this is more difficult to arrange with foreign films and there wasn’t a Q&A after “The Sound of the Wind.”
That’s a shame, as this film leaves one wanting to know more about this talented filmmaker who has managed to contribute to the war effort in her own way, by illuminating the toll Russia’s invasion has taken on ordinary Ukrainian families.
