The film of Mantas Kvedaravicius, who was captured and killed by the Russian army in Mariupol in early April, will be shown in Cannes. The documentary filmmaker's fiancee, who was with him at the time, was able to return the footage shot there and edited it. The film, the screening of which was announced on the website of the film festival, is called "

In 2022, the director returned to Ukraine, to the Donbass, at the heart of the war, to be with the people he met and filmed in 2014 and 2015. Since his passing, the producers and staff have done their best to continue delivering his work, vision and films to audiences..

“With great power and sensitivity, Mariupoli 2 depicts life as it goes on amid the bombings, and reveals images that convey both tragedy and hope,” the festival website says..

And at the same time, they add that the artist wanted to take testimony as a documentary filmmaker, “away from the agitation of the media and politicians”.

The smell of death in its raw dimension.

“Do you know what is most unusual in Mariupol? None of its inhabitants were afraid of death, even when it was very close.. Death was already everywhere and no one wanted to die in vain. People supported each other, risking their lives. They smoked and chatted in the street despite the bombs. There was no money left, and life became too short to remember, so people were content with what they had and expanded their borders. There was no more past, no future, no judgment. It was heaven in hell, the delicate wings of a butterfly fluttered closer and closer together, the smell of death in its damp dimension. It was the heartbeat of life,” reads the film’s description..

“It's bad that Europe doesn't even know what's going on here. European politicians often just say, “we are concerned”. But from this, unfortunately, we are neither cold nor hot.. The money that the IMF provides to the government does not reach ordinary people in any form.. My mission was to show that there is Russian aggression. That Ukraine needs help, information support. To talk about the fact that there is a war going on here, ”the journalist Albiana Lvutina reported in 2016 at the presentation of Mariupoli at the Berlinale Film Festival in Germany in 2016.

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When Kvedaravicius was first captured and then killed in early April of this year, Lvutina clarified that after his wife discovered the documentary filmmaker’s body, everything had to be kept secret for some time..

" A limited number of people knew about the death, but as soon as the information got into the media, it was already impossible to stop it.. We could never know the truth again and not even say goodbye to Mantas, "