EASTER DAY

Synopsis

On Easter Sunday in Kyiv, two soldiers from the army recruitment office drive slowly through the streets, watching for men who might be called to serve. Their search leads them to a young man who has stepped out only to buy food for his cat. He may try to avoid their gaze, yet on this holy day, nothing is as simple as it first appears.

Statement of the director(s)

I initially conceived this film as a comedy, inspired by a true story that happened to my friend and screenwriter, Illia Volynets-Trifonov. Two recruiters stopped him on the street to check his military ID. His first reaction was to worry about his cat, which had run out of food and was alone in his apartment. Moved by his concern for his cat, the soldiers accompanied him to the supermarket to buy cat food before escorting him to the military base.
I found it surprising, given the current tensions between civilians and the Ukrainian military, that such a scene could take place. In the end, Illia was exempted from military service, and it was while he was telling me his story that it became the idea for a film.
Since Illia was escorted by car to the military base, he was able to observe the recruiters at work and understand their selection criteria. When he told me about his misadventure, I thought the film should begin with a car ride, so that we could share that particular moment when they assess men on the street. Without knowing at first who the person is, the exercise is surprising.
During filming, we crisscrossed the city in a van driven by soldiers, and the men we passed were genuinely worried as we drove by. These images are truly documentary in nature, captured in real life, and use situational comedy to show our relationship with the military.
But these comedic ideas weren’t enough on their own to come up with a good screenplay. We quickly thought of Easter celebrations, because in Ukraine, everyone – even atheists – loves Easter. It’s a time for family reunions, and the holy water ceremony is both playful and a rite of passage. This celebration allows us to place our character and his recruiters in a situation that brings them together. At that precise moment, the military system and the context of war no longer matter. The ritual puts them on equal footing for a brief instant and creates a bond between them.
It’s a turning point that radically shifts the film’s genre. At first, we’re clearly in a comedy with funny or absurd situations, but the ritual leads us into a moment of sincerity for the three men and confronts us with the reality of the situation. At the military base, we truly understand our character’s attitude: he accepts his fate. Although I hadn’t intended to make a social realist film – and thought comedy would take precedence – I discovered while making this film that what really interests me here is how we manage to preserve our humanity in dire circumstances.
After filming the movie, I was also recruited, exactly as we portrayed it. I am now part of the 'Cultural Forces' and I hope to be able to continue making films.

Selected at

Krakow Film Festival