Trenches

A sobering look at the harsh life on the frontline in the Donbas conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russian separatists. French filmmaker Loup Bureau spent months in the trenches with Ukrainian soldiers, filming them up-close and very personal, capturing a mix of lethargy and frightening artillery attacks.

Filmed in black and white to remind us of the similarities to World War I, former war correspondent Loup Bureau’s Trenches documents the Russia-Ukrainian conflict from the bleak viewpoint of the Ukrainian frontline soldiers.

We are side by side with the men – and one woman nicknamed Persephone, Queen of the Underworld – while they spend their long days in the claustrophobic trenches. It’s an extremely hard and nerve-racking life, staring through binoculars at a barely visible enemy, hiding for cover when bombs start to fall and preparing for retaliation. In between, they play computer games, shave each other’s heads and talk about friends and family. Trenches is a desolate and heart-breaking document, and at the same time cinematographically stunning.