"Friendship is more powerful than war"

Some days ago I had an Skype-Interview with Yelizaveta Smith the director of the Ukrainian film „Shkola Nomer 3“. She couldn‘t be at the Berlinale in person, because she gave birth to her child. So I am very happy that I got the opportunity to talk with her via Skype. Yelizaveta is a very nice person and I was curious to find out more about the background of this great and touching documentary.

How did you meet those wonderful children and how did you start the project?

When the war in the Ukraine began many people who took part in the revolution didn't know what to do. I felt this kind of panic inside myself – I felt powerless. Then me and my friends were invited to take part in a volunteering program, where we had to go to eastern Ukraine. At that time it was free from the Russian military. Our goal was to go to that school in the Donezk area and to rebuild it together with the local people. So we went to that school and that is how we met the children for the first time. 

One of the first things we made together with the children was the celebration of the St. Nicolas day. It was very nice and fun. From the first day we were bonding very well with the children. A few month later we returned to make a documentary theatre play. Then we started to shoot our work with the children and that was the beginning of the movie.

How did you make the children open up to you?

To be honest, when we went to the place the first time people didn't like us. They thought we wanted something from them. But when they understood, that it was safe and we only wanted to speak, you didn't need to make them open up any more, because they kind of needed to speak. They have seen and felt things they need to tell to other people.

Were there any problems while making this film?

Well, we didn't have any money to make this film at first. I don't remember difficulties with the children. Of course with some of them it took some time, but that is normal and I wouldn't call it a problem. At the beginning some parents didn't like what we were doing, but after some time they understood that we weren't doing something dangerous.

In your movie it sometimes seemed to me, that you had talked to the children before you were filming and then said to them: „now tell us the story of..." So how did you work?  Did you already knew the stories before you were filming?

It depends on the scene. Some stories we knew before, because the monologues were part of the documentary theatre play. This is a kind of therapy for the person who is telling the story and helps him deal with it.

But some monologues were happening for the first time.

I decided to let the children speak in monologues because I wanted the viewers to feel like the children were talking to them. That is why I let the children speak the whole story into the camera.

Could you try to tell the message of your film in one sentence?

I can try.

This is what those children taught me and what I want the movie to give to the viewers: In the end those teenager who went through the war - their first love, their friendship, their life is much more powerful than the effects of the war.

Yes, as I watched the film I felt like there is no big difference between the teenagers and me. It could be me talking in your film. We have the same problems, the only difference is that they live in a country where there is war.

How was your reaction when you heard that your film got an award?

Its kind of absurd. Now those children from Donezk area - that was so destroyed, they are now on the stage with their Ukrainian flag. This is really cool.

22.02.17, Liv Thastum

"I felt the power of death like it was really near."

Der Film "Shkola nomer 3" beginnt mit einem Jugendlichen, der mit seinem Motorrad die Straße entlangfährt, wackelige Handkamera, Schnitt. Dann werden mit ruhigen stabilen Bildern Häuserfronten und Landschaft gezeigt. 

So scheint auch der Film aufgebaut zu sein. Jugendliche aus der Ukraine erzählen uns ihre Geschichte. Symmetrisch aufgenommen mit einem Stativ, dann folgen wir ihnen mit handgehaltener Kamera nach draußen und bekommen einen Einblick in ihr Leben. Jeder der Jugendlichen hat ein Objekt mitgebracht. Eine Nahaufnahme davon, dann nimmt die Kamera Abstand und die Jugendlichen erzählen über ihren Gegenstand und dessen Hintergrund, bis sich das Ganze fortentwickelt und man weit mehr erfährt - sehr Intimes. Gestört werden die Jugendlichen dabei nicht, sie können sich entfalten und erzählen dadurch ganz unzensiert ihre Geschichte. Es wirkt ehrlich und diese Ehrlichkeit beeindruckt und berührt einen zutiefst.

Die Jugendlichen wirken verletzlich und doch sehr stark. Und auf keinen Fall alle gleich. Sie sind emotional, traurig, bedacht, sympathisch, humorvoll, viele haben vielleicht Ähnliches erlebt in Zeiten des Krieges und doch hat jeder eigene Erfahrungen gemacht, seine/ihre eigene Sicht der Dinge und Erzählweise. Die meisten sehnen sich nach Frieden und zurück in ihre unbeschwerte Kindheit. Es wird direkt und indirekt vom Krieg erzählt, politische Partei ergreift keiner, nichts ist schwarz-weiß. Es wird nur erzählt wie der Krieg verändert, mit ihm kommen Angst, Tod, Trennungen, Schmerz, aber auch die Wertschätzung von Familie, Freunden, zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen sowie auch Träumen und Hoffnungen. Die intelligenten Jugendlichen geben Vieles von sich, das berührt, zum Nachdenken anregt und beeindruckt, da nichts gespielt ist und alles von Herzen kommt. Manchmal stellt man sich leider doch die Frage, ob nicht Einiges in Szene gesetzt wurde. Dazu kommt, dass sehr ausführlich berichtet wird und auch wenn wichtig ist, dass alle Stimmen gehört werden, könnte man an ein oder anderer Stelle ein wenig kürzen.

Die Schüler sind alle mehr oder weniger in meinem Alter und es ist so wichtig, sich ins Gedächtnis zu rufen, was gerade eigentlich so passiert. Es gibt Kriege auf dieser Welt an die wir keinen Gedanken verschwenden und wenn, dann passiert es schnell, dass wir die Menschen in diesen Situationen als anders wahrnehmen, uns sagen „die sind das alles doch gewöhnt, die können das doch ab“. Aber es ist wichtig zu sehen, dass dies keineswegs der Fall ist. Im Publikumsgespräch wurde eine ungeschickte Frage gestellt, was denn der Unterschied zwischen deutschen und ukrainischen Kindern sei. Die starke Antwort: „Nichts“. In ruhigen bläulichen, nicht intensiven Farben berührt dieser Film auf subtile Art und Weise. Ich kann ihn allen empfehlen!

English version
The very first scene starts with a teenager riding down a street on a motorbike, unsteady hand-held camera, cut. Then the house facades and the landscape are shown in calm, steady images. The whole movie seems to be constructed this way. Teenagers from the Ukraine tell us their story. Symmetrically filmed with a tripod, then we follow them with a hand-held camera outside and get an insight into their life. 

Every adolescent brought an object. A close-up showing it, than the camera backs away and the teens talk about their item and its background, until the story develops and one learns far more- very intimate details. Thereby the teenagers are not disturbed, they can evolve and tell us their story completely uncensored. Everything appears sincere and this honesty impresses and touches me profoundly. The youngsters seem vulnerable yet still very strong. And by no means all alike. They are emotional, sad, considerate, likable, humorous, many share similar experiences in times of war but everyone has a distinct narrative style and way of looking at things. Most of them wish for peace and long to return to their childhood. Talking about the war takes place in a direct as well as indirect way, but no one takes political sides, nothing is black and white. It is only told how the war changes people, with it comes fear, death, separation, pain, yet also the appreciation of family, friends, interpersonal relationships as well as of dreams and hopes. The intelligent teenagers say many things that trigger emotions, are thought-provoking and that make an impact, because nothing is acted and everything comes from the heart. 

Unfortunately, sometimes the question arises, whether some things were staged. Moreover, some scenes could be shorter, even though it is important, that every voice is heard. The pupils are all more or less my age, so it is important to keep in mind, what is currently happening in Ukraine. There are wars taking place, we never spend a thought on, and even if we do so, we easily perceive the people in those situations as different, we say to ourselves that “they are used to all of it, the can easily stand this”. 
It is important to see, that this isn't the case at all! In the public discussion someone asked an inconvenient question: “What is the difference between German an Ukrainian children?” The profound answer: “Nothing”. In calm bluish, not intense colors this movie touches subtly. I strongly recommend it!

17.02.17, Carlotta Saumweber

Shkola Nomer 3

Dokumentarische Form
Regie Yelizaveta Smith, Georg Genoux
Ukraine, Deutschland 2016

Produktion Yelizaveta Smith, Georg Genoux
Kamera Khrystyna Lizogub
Schnitt Yelizaveta Smith

Russisch, Ukrainisch
engl. UT · 116 Min.

Mi. 15.02. 20:00 Uhr Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Do. 16.02. 15:30 Uhr Cubix 8
Sa. 18.02. 17:30 Uhr CinemaxX 1

In den vertrauten Räumen ihres Alltags erzählen sie von Dingen, die ihnen viel bedeuten, von Erlebnissen, die sie bewegen, von erster Liebe und Verlusten, von Ho nungen und Ängsten: 13 Jugendliche einer Schule im Donbass, die während des Ukraine-Kon ikts zerstört und wiedererrichtet wurde. 13 Leben in einem emotionalen und sozialen Zwischenraum. Den Krieg erwähnen sie nur am Rande, und doch bildet er das Gravitationszentrum der puristischen und zugleich eindringlichen Erzählung. Zwar ruhen in der Kleinstadt die Wa en, aber Frieden herrscht dennoch nicht. Der Dokumentar lm entstand als Fortführung des Theaterprojekts My Mykolaivka, das sich einer Wahrheitssuche mit ästhetischen Mitteln verschrieben hat.

In the familiar surroundings of their everyday lives, they talk about things that matter to them, about experiences that move them, about
firrst love and loss, hopes and fears. 13 adolescents from a school in Donbass which was destroyed during the war in Ukraine, and subsequently rebuilt, share themselves in front of the camera. 13 lives inhabiting an intermediary space, both emotionally and socially. The war is only mentioned peripherally, and yet it forms the gravitational centre of this puristic and insistent narrative. Though a ceasefire may prevail in the small city, it hardly registers as peace. The documentary film is an extension of the theatre project My Mykolaivka, which dedicated itself to the search for truth through aesthetic means.

Zu den Filmkritiken und Kritiken geht es hier.