The Battle for Kyiv

There is such an opportunity for a powerful and enlightening documentary about this horrific war, but unfortunately this is not it. The doc purports to show at close-quarters a heroic defence by brave fighters of their homeland, but any value in their story is completely undermined by the distractingly shoddy filmmaking.

The camera work is appalling - it's as if a child was asked to film the thing and given no instruction. The narrative is incoherent, you get no sense of the wider context or why we should care about these stories - it's a total mess. For what should be an intense and powerful tale, you end up yawning and thinking that if the film-makers couldn't be bothered to take this undertaking seriously, why should I?

There have been already been some great long-form reports on this conflict that - Channel 4 in the UK have shown many. This is a travesty and to be avoided.

I spent the first year of the war in Kyiv myself, including multiple trips to see friends near the front lines, and I feel like I learned more about the war from a single morning chat at a coffee shop than I did from this half-heartes documentary. I don't know where the film-maker learnt about the country, but he seems to have spent less time learning about its people and the wider context to this horrific context than he did on choosing the soundtrack to his film (the only competent aspect).

A couple of the interviews here were illuminating on the horrors inficted on Ukraine, but the rest of the footage was bizarrely chosen, seemingly no quality control nor effort at impartiality. Imagine the worst AI tool was asked to concoct a film based on an unhinged Twitter thread with the prompt "this, but less coherent, longer, and making the viewer more stupid by the end" - this is that film.

Went and saw the premier of this documentary tonight (note: 19 October- previous reviews were before it was ever even released!) and was blown away. Gripping interviews, excellent humanization of an often-dehumanizing conflict. As a Ukraine researcher it accurately portrayed events in Kyiv in those early, dangerous days.

Oz is clearly passionate about the subject-matter, and as one of the very few journalists to stick around in Kyiv during the initial battles, his story and coverage is somewhat unprecedented. There will be myriad documentaries made in the years that follow about this war, and while some of them may tell a wider story of the war, The Battle of Kyiv will remain among the best (and is currently THE best) films done about the battle for that crucial city. Do not miss this film,

This film was so informative with boots on the ground perspective which surpasses the abbreviated snapshot we usually see in the news. The extended access the journalist/film maker, Oz Katerji, had to political figures gives credence to this film. It was horrific following the Russian invasion and killing of civilians. The determined bravery and courage of the Ukrainian civilians is humbling. I can see why this film won best documentary at the Portland Film Festival. The film maker's live, extended discussion expanded insights to the complexity of the issues as well as enriching a global perspective.

I don't think I've ever seen a documentary that's as exhilarating and hardcore as this one. Katerji weaves a number of narratives together carefully, telling a complicated story that follows multiple plot lines, while engaging in some pretty extreme action.

I think it's unfortunate that some of the major festivals haven't given this film a fair shake, but was glad that it won best documentary at the Portland Film Festival. It definitely deserves recognition. I really thought this movie was incredible, and I hope people see it, because the message at the end of the day is one of hope and freedom.