Review of Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (2015) by Paula C — 11 Jan 2016

"Winter on Fire" is beautiful and important film. It tells the story of an amazing show of collective humanity that culminated in a revolution in Europe's largest country, a country most Americans knew nothing about. Ukraine's story of its "Euromaidan Revolution" has been all but hijacked by a newly aggressive Russia. "Winter on Fire" takes back that story, with breathtaking scenes from the frontlines on Maidan Square. It's a must-see for anyone who is interested in civil rights, collective action, history, world affairs, Russia, former Soviet Union, or anyone who just wants to experience a powerful human story.

Ukraine has become part of our geopolitical vocabulary. And it's all because of "EuroMaidan," a movement that began as a student protest in a public square ("Maidan" in Ukrainian) in the fall of 2013 and ended in the winter of 2014 as the Ukrainian people's Revolution of Dignity, changing not only Ukraine, but, as it turned out, the world.

The story of those 93 days in Ukraine's capital is the subject of an electrifying new documentary "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom" by Russian-born American director Evgeny Afineevsky. Fittingly for a film about a people's revolution, Afineevsky assembled a people's crew of no less than 28 cinematographers as well as participants and witnesses to chronicle the dramatic events as they unfolded to make history in the streets of Kyiv, giving rise to a civil rights movement that successfully ousted a corrupt Soviet-style political regime.

At the center of any film about a people's revolution is of course the people. And "Winter on Fire" delivers a gripping account as seen directly through the eyes of a cross-section of participants on the frontlines. As the movement evolved in response to government actions, Afineevsky takes us along for the sometimes joyous and sometime painful ride, trusting the people in front of and behind the cameras to us how they responded to brutality and repression. Rarely does he turn to explanatory narrative. Instead, "Winter on Fire" immerses its viewers in the voices of the people and the sounds on the square. Afineevsky intersperses dramatic footage from the streets with interviews of many of those same participants returning to the scene of the events. The film thus moves like a novel, weaving back and forth from elements of narrative to character. In this way, we learn the story as it progresses and experience the participants' transformation through various stages of the Revolution.

"Winter on Fire" also has a gentle, and, at times, haunting original score composed by Jasha Klebe, which helps the audience cope with the more explicit scenes.

Having followed the events at the time, I can honestly say, "Winter on Fire" manages to capture the remarkably inspiring and idealistic spirit exhibited over those many days by the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians that filled central Kyiv's Maidan. People from all walks of life came to Maidan, from different cities and regions and even beyond Ukraine's borders. Young, old, soldiers, teachers, hipsters, engineers, doctors, professionals. They all came to support the movement in whatever ways they could. Even runaways, like the streetwise 12-year old boy, found a way to be helpful, by charging cell phones. In the bilingual country, both Russian speakers and Ukrainian speakers joined with Muslims, Christians and Jews to work together. People set up kitchens so no one was hungry. There were tents dedicated to media and technical equipment. Concerts, speakers, poets, politicians came to the stage in an orderly manner. Schedules were posted of events daily. Everything seemed to work like a well-oiled machine.

"Winter on Fire" is not only a story about the power of ordinary people to mobilize and effect extraordinary societal change. What makes this film unique is that it takes you into people's hearts and souls, into a place where they begin to believe in themselves. We become witnesses to their discovering their courage and power, something they don't even recognize they possess until something awakens it. It could be someone touching a hand to start a human chain. It could be sparked by music, performed by professionals and amateurs alike on the square. It could be hearing and joining in singing of the national anthem. It could be witnessing something so shocking to the conscience, human instinct takes over. In all of these cases, as the film demonstrates, the instincts that emerged on Maidan, even under crisis conditions, brought people together rather than divide them.

Things could easily have gone very differently. For most of those 93 days, the atmosphere was overwhelmingly positive, like being at a festival. But as the riot police began beating people indiscriminately, Maidan's numbers only grew as did Maidan's spirit. "Winter on Fire" puts that spirit on full display. And it is that powerful blend of unity, diversity, purpose, determination, fairness, ingenuity, resourcefulness, courage, and dignity that over the course of 93 days forged a new identity for Ukrainian citizens and Ukraine as a new European nation.

"Winter on Fire" is in some ways an uncharacteristic film for our time. We live in a time where revolutions fail and revolutionaries get beheaded. This is precisely why this film is important. During less than optimistic times, "Winter on Fire" brings hope to struggles for freedom and democracy throughout the world. It is a very real and hopeful story, one with much raw pain, yes, but hopeful nonetheless.

Although the director didn't set out with an agenda, this film also counters various unsavory myths and propaganda about what really happened on Maidan, without sugar-coating the violent last days. EuroMaidan was no uprising by violent extremists who staged a coup d'etat. Far from it. "Winter on Fire" documents that Maidan was an expression of our collective humanity at its highest levels, people uniting in a universal desire for a voice, for a government that's accountable, for a society that's fair and decent, for a future of dignity for your children.

The universal theme in Afineevsky's "Winter on Fire" is what makes Ukraine's fight for freedom important for Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike. At a time when cynical American and European politicians exploit people's fears and differences, it's easy to take our values for granted. Watching the remarkable Ukrainians in "Winter on Fire" reminds those of us in countries that have fought our battles for equality and dignity, that there is still much work to be done, that civil rights and democracy require constant work and struggle, and that we can learn a lot from a far-away, little-known, extraordinary country.