Program

The Birds are Silent

Storyline

It is the 9th of February 2022. Four friends from Kyiv, Ukraine spend the evening together and have a good time until they hear of the Russian invasion. At first, they find it hard to believe and joke about the possibility of a war. They are still young and have their whole lives ahead of them. They don't want this to happen to them. But when the first shock settles and they begin to grasp the situation, the group starts to come up with different scenarios. They talk about the possibility of being hit by a bomb, of fighting for their home country or of leaving it all behind to be safe. The film cuts to a future point in time in which two of the friends are shown wearing military uniforms, one is aboard a train, and the last one is seeking shelter in his bathroom.

About the film/director

Leo Dzhyshyashvili is a cinematographer and director from Kyiv. He studied at the Kyiv University of Arts and Culture and the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF). During his studies, he directed and shot multiple short films, and worked as a cameraman on various documentaries. His shorts films have been screened at international film festivals including DOK Leipzig, Tampere Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

FILMOGRAPHY:
THE BIRDS ARE SILENT / 2025
LIKE OTHER PEOPLE / 2025

Director’s statement

I shot this film on February 9, 2022, two weeks before the war started, on a night when my friends and I were sitting together as usual. We were all around 18 years old at the time. The war has changed everything since then. And all of us. I wanted to show real feelings, without statistics and loud headlines. Just the simple life that no longer exists.