Extract
[...] The \"Leninfall\" corresponds to the process that allowed the destruction, replacement, and transfer of objects symbolizing the Russian revolution in the Ukrainian material landscape in the context of the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. The Revolution of Dignity is a movement that took place between the winter of 2013 and 2014 on the main square of Kiev called Maïdan. The goal of this people's revolution was to limit Russia's influence on Ukraine. While according to a 2020 article in the World, there were nearly 5500 statues of Lenin in Ukraine, by 2020, there was only one left.3. [...]
[...] In 1970, the Aral Sea had already lost 9/10 of its surface. Result: its salinity rate rose and millions of fish died due to the drying up'2. To this day, certain parts of the river are completely dried up and have almost completely disappeared, reinforced by the consequences of climate change and the rise of extreme temperatures, in part in the Uzbekistan region. Thus, through this film, which constitutes the second part of a trilogy dedicated to the most extreme environments on the planet, the two directors have chosen to capture through several generations the way of life of the fishermen of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan, slowly showing the changes of this Aral Sea and the evolution of the strategies of these fishermen to continue to survive in the face of these changes. [...]
[...] Title: Poster of the film representing one of the fishermen from the documentary Source: Press kit of the film "Aral, Fishing is an invisible sea» Through the magnified images of the fishermen, the directors choose to show their courage, their selflessness in the face of this environmental disaster. On the other hand, the capture and emphasis on relatively abandoned landscapes with an accentuation of color contrasts, as seen in the image above (contrasts of blacks, grays, and whites), accentuate the effect of abandonment and environmental death that the directors want to highlight. [...]
[...] In a famous series of photographs called On Vacation, the Bulgarian artist Luchezar Boyadjiev digitally erases the horsemen of many monuments. While many statues have been dismantled and renamed, that of Mykola Shchors remained intact. Following Boyadjiev's work, the Ukrainian authorities continued with a symbolic action, covering the statue with a very large Ukrainian flag. This camouflage took place during the Ukrainian independence celebration and continued beyond several months later, with the explicit message of celebrating Ukrainian pride and the implicit message of continuing this process of "decommunization" of the country. [...]
[...] Leninist ideology had a significant impact on the entire Russian world and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, of which Ukraine was a part, until its collapse in 1991. Thus, according to Anastasiya Pshenychnykh, Professor at Kharkiv University (Ukrainian city), this series of events contributing to limiting Russian influence can be considered as spectacle of Oblivion".4. Kateryna Filyuk, a conservator and art critic, writes an article titled "The Social Contract - How Ukrainian Society Accommodates Its Dubious Past"5 (translated from English). [...]
