On the Swing

Eastern Ukraine, May 2014. Part of the historic Donbas region falls to pro-Russian separatists. Young journalist Stanislav Aseyev reports for several Ukrainian media outlets from Donetsk, his hometown. In May 2017, he is kidnapped and spends 962 days in detention, mainly in a former cultural center, converted into a prison, called Izolyatsia —or Isolation.

Animated techno-punk opera: I rent a very small room in Berlin (which reminds me of a coffin) and have very strange dreams there. People are held in suspense for two years without knowing when will it all be over. The club is closed, the ambulance won't come and everything that's left to do is just walking around the city with your inner monsters.

A granddaughter experiencing the invasion of Ukraine reflects about past generations, who were constantly going through deportations, different forms of wars and genocides.