Film Synopsis: Pairing compositions that capture the unsettled aftermath of invasion with intercepted phone conversations between Russian soldiers and their families back home, this film starkly contrasts Ukrainian’s everyday reality with Russia’s brutal propaganda machine, highlighting the callous disregard for civilian lives.
Director’s Statement: “When the Russian full-scale invasion started, I was working in Ukraine as a local producer with Al Jazeera English. This work allowed me to access many different Ukrainian regions where I witnessed Russian war crimes. After work in the evenings, I developed a habit of listening to the ‘intercepts’: intercepted phone calls of Russian soldiers in Ukraine calling their families back home, obtained and publicly released by Ukraine’s security services. The discrepancy between the brutal reality that I was living during the day and the things I was hearing at night was shocking. The most painful thing to accept was: Why do humans do such inhumane things? This question brought me to the film which is based on a simple juxtaposition of two realities. I was trying to understand the full complexity of the ‘Russian order’ so as to comprehend the kind of reasoning that sits behind the invasion.”
“Terrific... An austere and harrowing chronicle of life, death and indifference… One of the strongest movies in [New Directors/New Films].” – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“Intercepted offers a spare psychological portrait of soldiers at war. Gleaned directly from their conversations, this is an honest depiction of how empathy disappears and malice takes over.” – Murtada Elfadl, Variety
This screening is presented as part of our ongoing programming for Amidst Cries from the Rubble: Art of Loss and Resilience from Ukraine.
We are grateful to the International Folk Art Foundation, Friends of Folk Art, and donors to the Museum of New Mexico Exhibition Development Fund, including Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn, Gwenn and Eivind Djupedal, Rosalind Doherty, Barbara Forslund, David Vogel and Larry Fulton, The Gale Family Foundation, and TOKo Santa Fe for their support of Amidst Cries from the Rubble: Art of Loss and Resilience from Ukraine and its related programming.
