Estonian premiere

Eastern Front

Local title
Idarinne
Title in Russian
Восточный фронт
Original title
Shidniy front
Director
Vitaliy Manskiy, Yevhen Titarenko
Country
Latvia, Ukraine, Czechia, USA
Year
2023
Programme
Baltic Film Competition
Subject
war

Yevhen Titarenko woke on the morning of 24th February due to visible explosions as did many panicked Ukrainians. He immediately took his camera and returned to the front lines.

On Ukraine’s Independence Day, the renowned master, festival grand prix winner Vitaliy Manskiy ("Under the Sun", 2015) introduces Yevhen or “Rezhik”, who survived six horrible months in ambulances, tanks, and jeeps and bravely saved wounded compatriots from shrapnel, bullets, and bombs.

A group of volunteers from a medical battalion drive their families to a big house in West Ukraine. They will return to this idyllic place for calm dinners and long conversations. Yevhen fixes the camera to his helmet to provide a brutal and immersive experience from the trenches featuring furious rides, awful injuries, and permanent bombardment, but always with some jokes.

Edvinas Pukšta

Director
Vitaliy Manskiy, Yevhen Titarenko
Screenwriter
Vitaly Mansky
Producer
Natalia Manskaia, Natalia Khazan
DoP
Yevhen Titarenko, Ivan Fomichenko
World sales
Deckert Distribution
Runtime
Language
Russian, Ukrainian
Subtitles
English
Other festivals
Berlin

Award for Best Baltic Film, grant of 5000€ from Piletilevi

Screenings

9th Hall Apollo Kino Coca-Cola Plaza
Screening090903 / Idarinne
SubtitlesEnglish
Q&A guestsVitaliy Manskiy (Director), Yevhen Titarenko (Director, Director of photography), Natalia Khazan (Producer)
Q&A duration
Screening duration
Hall Electric Cinema, TARTU
Screening104203 / Idarinne
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Saal Kino Sõprus
Screening133102 / Idarinne
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Trailer
Q&A with the filmmaker