Filmmaker Captures Intimacy of War's Fear

Ukrainian filmmaker Zhanna Ozirna's debut feature, "Honeymoon," presents an intimate perspective on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The film, premiering at Switzerland's Fribourg International Film Festival, centers on a newly married couple confined to their apartment as conflict approaches Kyiv.

Instead of depicting direct warfare, Ozirna focuses on the psychological impact of war on a relationship. The narrative draws from multiple testimonies of those who hid during the invasion, particularly one account of a family crawling across their floor to survive.

Ozirna prioritized the couple's dynamic, using the war as a backdrop to explore human behavior under extreme stress. She consciously avoided casting actors with direct experience of occupation to prevent re-traumatization.

The film's depiction of the invading forces is entirely auditory, using sounds like footsteps and distant explosions to create a sense of omnipresent threat. This approach was both a conceptual choice to avoid simplified portrayals and a practical decision for the film's budget.

Ozirna acknowledges the disconnect between those experiencing the war and international audiences. She believes fiction, by focusing on intimacy and emotional responses, can convey the human cost of conflict more effectively than documentaries alone.