Servant of the People

Worth dropping in on…

Mariya: What are you watching?

Stanislav: Servant of the People. Zelensky before he became president.

Mariya: Is it any good?

Stanislav: It’s satirical. It’s funny. It’s great.

Mariya: Corruption?

Stanislav: Aplenty. Politicians
controlled by oligarchs but you never see more than half their face. A teacher who wins 73% of the presidential vote because a student posted a social media video of him which went viral.

Mariya: So Zelensky plays as president?

Stanislav: Which is what he became in real life.

________________

Voice-over

A television series 2015-2019 that started as fiction and ended as fact. But who would have guessed that Zelensky would end up in such a beleaguered role in an ideologically-driven war? Fighting for his country’s life against an unfortunately-governed Russia. 

Helping a crisis from afar

Watching the invasion news…

Sofiya: Outrageous. Villainous. Monstrous. 

Mykhailo: It was unspeakable. Unthinkable. Unbelievable.

Sofiya: Well, there had been signs like the troop buildup on the border. And the rhetoric. There was a hope that it would amount to just more intimidation and psychological warfare.

Mykhailo: Only it turned out not be. Declarations of “I won’t attack” and then the next day invading. 

Sofiya: Well, what to do about the atrocity? How to assist people who fled with nothing from ruined homes? How to help defend the country? How to get the message out?

Mykhailo: Short of going in there, contribute. There are agencies and I’ve even heard of people personally sending money for hotel rooms to accommodate refugees.

________

Voice-over

Supporting humanitarian efforts like UNICEF, medical like Red Cross, feeding the hungry like World Central Kitchen, defence through agencies like Army SOS, media like The Kiyev Independent.

Ukrainian film: Piano

A piano as an antidote to conflict…

.

Antuanetta Mischchenko

Bohdan: The director drew a good story from the chaos in the streets.

.

Natalya: That she did. Centering on a piano. In a sense beginning as the Sakamoto film, CODA, did, with a focus on a piano as a beaten-up survivor of a tragedy.

.

Bohdan: But in this case, the piano was a hub about which stories of musicians revolved. The extremist as pianist. The teacher from the conservatory.

.

Natalya: But perhaps the most luminous person was Antuanetta Mischchenko, the girl who came to play the blue and yellow piano every day, and who rescued it from the streets.

___________

Voice-over

The filmmaker, Vita Maria Drygas, said she regarded making Piano as one of the most important events in her life. Most of us have a story to be told. The piano is a symbol, surrounded by people with punctured lives, a glimpse of contemporary Ukraine.

...