The Second Wave

The director’s father, Soviet figure skating star, went on tours to the imaginary West and filmed his life in the transition period of the 80s and 90s. Rediscovering his amateur VHS archive, a director explores his vision of paradise against the changing historical background. 15 videotapes, the spirit of traveling to the West. The birth of a daughter. The collapse of the USSR. Fragments of Ice is a journey of growing-up for society, for the father, and for the daughter. A journey that is ongoing.

Mom feeds little birds from the window of a panel building in Mariupol, Ukraine, and grows quince in her dacha garden near the battle line. Telling about her simple life, the woman shoots videos for her daughter, who lives in Kyiv and often doesn't pick up the phone.

A young Orthodox priest, fed up with too much intolerance and hypocrisy at the Kyiv Pechery Lavra, decides to leave his service there. He finds for himself a new flock: gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people as well as those living with HIV/AIDS. However, the official Orthodox Church denies them in the right to be Christians and homophobic society compels them to hide their sexual orientation. What has to happen to make the Church embower LGBT believers?

The film is made from home video recordings made by a Ukrainian family in 2002-2008. Like most home videos focusing on children, they convey the feeling of a beginning and perspective - but also of repetitiveness, mundanity, the hum of time. What is our 'together' made of? What connections keep us together? Through vernacular videos from the past, the film seeks to speak (often in baby talk and children's riddles) about plurality, rootedness, about us.

Phronesis combines a capability of rational thinking, with a type of knowledge. On the one hand it requires the capability to rationally consider actions which can deliver desired effects. It is not simply a skill, but also the ability to reflect upon and determine good ends consistent with the aim of living well overall.

Thousands come to the cemetery for Hrobky (Memorial Day) to commemorate their departed relatives, to get blessed, to celebrate life... It’s a wonderful tradition, isn't it?