The Organisation of Ukrainian Producers unveils Mariupol & Gostomel documentaries

Mariupol. Occupied

The Organisation of Ukrainian Producers (OUP), a group of seven filmmakers who launched a banner earlier this year to publicise their war-focused documentaries, has unveiled details of their latest projects.

Mariupol. Occupied and The Ark: How To Survive When You Are Being Killed are both in production and will explore the ongoing conflict in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

Mariupol. Occupied examines how those living in the Ukrainian city survived between April and September, during the Russian occupation. It will be the second OUP film about Mariupol, following Mariupol. Unlost Hope, which was released in August.

The Ark: How To Survive When You Are Being Killed tells the story of how strangers but neighbours in an apartment complex spent 15 days in an abandoned house in occupied Gostomel as they attempted to survive the conflict.

Max Lytvynov, director of Mariupol. Occupied, said his latest project explored “the entry of the Russian military; life during the occupation; and the changed mood of people.”

He added: “We will show the different behaviour of citydwellers, the logic of collaborationists and what those who welcomed the ‘Russian peace’ say now. Why did these people stay and how are they surviving? Like Unlost Hope, this film is a testimony, when ordinary people tell what has happened to them.”

Yuliya Fedets, who weas behind The Ark: How To Survive When You Are Being Killed and is creative producer, added that the doc would explore the “qualities, traits, decisions and actions: of those who survived in Gostomel.

“What did this group of people go through? How did the situation change them? What these people have learned about themselves and others. And, finally, what helped the group to stay alive. These are the questions we are looking for answers to — to understand how to survive when you are being killed.”

Both films are in the editing stage and are planned for release at the end of 2022.

The OUP was created in March by seven Ukrainian TV and film producers: Volodymyr Borodianskyi, Daria Leygonie-Fialko, Alla Lypovetska, Marina Kvasova, Igor Storchak, Victor Mirskyi and Iryna Zaria. Their aim is to create docs about the war in Ukraine.