“Alina Gorlova, Yelizaveta Smith, and Simon Mozgovyi’s mesmerizing vérité documentary is another entry in the unfortunately burgeoning Ukrainian nonfiction new wave.”
“An exquisitely crafted vérité journey comprised of painstakingly framed snapshots of an unfortunately contemporary Ukraine.”
Grade A – Critic’s Pick
Review: Lauren Wissot – Indiewire
“The feeling of senseless intermittent destruction remains palpable throughout “Militantropos”
“This film’s anthropological interest in how people are shaped by an ongoing immersion in a state of war is simultaneously deeply personally felt and conveyed with a sense of analytical remove.”
Review: Catherine Bray – Variety
“a Wiseman-like approach to a country at war.”
“The camera- and soundwork is often striking and the result absorbing.”
Review: Boyd van Hoeij – ScreenDaily
“Militantropos manages to be not only one of the best documentaries of the year, but one of the best movies of the year.”
Review: Creative Cinematic Collection
“It is perhaps the film with the greatest artistic audiovisual impact on the war in Ukraine.”
“seems to have found the right key to combine documentary cinema in its artistic sense as a cinema that analyzes reality.”
Review: Viktor Toth – East Journal
“Militantropos is an unflinching attempt to make social and psychological sense of how humans – in this case, Ukrainians – learn to live in wartime.”
Review: Savina Petkova – Cineuropa
“This is a powerfully moving and beautifully shot documentary.”
Review: Matthew Turner – Next Best Picture
“Every sequence has an emotional honesty baked into it that refuses to play to expectations.”
“It’s not about explaining the war; it’s about showing what it does to the people who live through it.”
Review: Chris Jones – Overly Honest Reviews
“The film takes an observational and minimalist approach that show both brutality and pain, as well as everyday resilience, that sense that “life goes on” despite everything.”
Review: Diego Lerer – Micropsia Cine
“a great number of Militantropos‘ exquisitely composed shots are eye-wateringly gorgeous.”
Review: Marc van de Klashorst – ICS Films
“Using the tools of cinema verité, they create a painful and brilliant example of poetic cinema.”
Review: Michele Faggi – Indie-Eye
“A stark and thoughtful documentary full of quietly powerful moments.”
Review: Daniel Allen – Loud and Clear Review
“The images are both stunningly beautiful and heartbreaking.”
“The mix of sound and image move us on a level beyond words.”
Review: Steve Kopian – Unseen Films
“The heart of the documentary: to go beyond the images of the news that have been flowing every day on our screens for three years.”
Review: Nicola Mazzi – Cinemany
“what’s immediately present and arresting in the film is just the quietness of the destruction.”
“By not engaging with its subjects, it leaves everything bare.”
Review: Cara-Lynn Branch – Universal Cinema
“For a polyphony of voices that, with elegance, style, and powerful visual metaphors, form a portrait of a people pushed out of their comfort zone — yet refusing to succumb to tragedy, and determined to reclaim what was taken from them.”
Jury Statement – DocuDays 2025 – Ukrainian Film Critics’ Jury Prize
