Ukrainian documentary ‘Iron Butterflies’ premieres in Europe at Berlinale

A frame from the movie ‘Iron Butterflies’
A frame from the movie ‘Iron Butterflies’

"Iron Butterflies" documents the shooting down of commercial airliner Malaysia Airlines MH17 over the Kremlin-created “Donetsk People’s Republic” sham republic in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Read also: Zelenskyy, Sean Penn and eco-activists feature at 73rd Berlin International Film Festival opening event

It also examines the Russian propaganda narratives designed to obscure the cause of the atrocity, and how the world has addressed this crime.

The film features documentary footage of the event captured in 2014, combined with dramatic reconstructions and animations.

The film is a co-production between Ukraine and Germany and was produced by Andriy Kotlyar, Volodymyr Tykhyi, David Lechmer, Isabelle Bertolon, and Trini Götze.

Read also: Sean Penn's film about Russia's war against Ukraine screened at Berlinale film festival

The film has been entered in the Panorama competition program. Another full-length film by Ukrainian director Tonya Noyabrova, "Ty mene lubysh?" (Do You Love Me?), is also being presented within the Panorama program.

"Iron Butterflies" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023 in the World Documentary Competition program. It will be released in Ukraine in July 2023.

Director Roman Liubyi is also known for the documentary "War Notebook", which was created from personal videos captured by Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers with their phones and cameras. The film premiered in 2020.

The Berlinale International Film Festival will run until Feb. 26. The various competition programs feature a record number of Ukrainian films - six, as well as two films about Ukraine.

As a sign of support for Ukraine, the Berlinale changed this year the colors of the official festival badge, the bear, from gold to blue and yellow.

On the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, Feb. 24, the Berlinale will also hold a solidarity event with Ukraine.

We’re bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine