Every war spills over into information duels and polemic exchanges. Today, while hot battles continue to rage following recent Russian invasions of Ukraine, an even greater struggle to win worldwide perception and opinion proceeds unabated. Yet, often the West has either swallowed or been confused by Kremlin lies denying the reality of Russia’s current aggression. All too few grasped that they were witnessing a direct continuation of centuries of Russian efforts not only to eradicate Ukraine, but also to rewrite history.
The aim of co-directors Mark Jonathan Harris, Oles Sanin and the producers of their 2016 documentary “Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine” was not merely to chronicle the maelstrom of this online war, but also to expose Russia’s lies and deceptions.
More than other recent films, “Breaking Point” integrates relevant Ukrainian history, beginning with centuries of invasions by Ukraine’s neighbors and progressing up to today’s headlines. It ties in the Orange Revolution, protests on the Maidan, and the present wars to make them understandable for any viewer.
“Breaking Point”
One of the principals in the documentary, children’s theater director Andrij “Bohema” Sharaskin from Ternopil drives to the eastern front, where he took part in the battle for the Donetsk airport.
At its heart, “Breaking Point” offers an intimate and inspiring portrait of a handful of individuals who gave up their normal lives to fight for democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine. What moved these ordinary people, each with their distinctive fears, doubts and hopes, to give up everything for a higher ideal? These principal characters include an investigative reporter, a children’s theater director, a volunteer doctor and a rabbi.
There is much to absorb and ponder in this documentary. Historian Timothy Snyder states: “The main problem for Ukraine is getting over the hump from corruption to rule of law. This is much harder than having a revolt or revolution.” The film shows post-war Ukrainians, “crippled physically and spiritually for generations to come.” Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk envisions Ukraine as a prototype for a United States of Europe. Meanwhile, touching on some controversial aspects of globalism, novelist and author of “Ukraine Diaries,” Andrey Kurkov states the only way forward towards Europe is “to build a nation like England,” which maintains “Britishness” amid its plethora of Pakistani and other minorities. “Breaking Point” is a gripping movie that cries out for a sequel: OK, what happened next?
Co-director Mr. Harris has won three Academy Awards for his documentaries on topics ranging from the Redwood Forests to the plight of Jewish refugees. Co-director Mr. Sanin has also authored numerous documentaries and the notable feature films “Mamay” (2003) and “The Guide” (2013). He also presides over the Ukrainian Association of Young Cinematographers. The writers were Paul Wolansky and Mr. Harris. Jason Rosenfeld was the editor, and Peter Borisow and Maxim Asadchiy were the producers.
The documentary opened in New York (March 2) and Los Angeles (March 9). The film’s official website is http://www.breakingpointfilm.com.
Information warfare
Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin funnels vast financial and human resources to support Russia’s information warfare campaign. In their efforts to defuse this, Ukrainian filmmakers have faced an uphill slog. Director Volodymyr Tykhyi, one of the founders of the documentary film group “Babylon 13,” declared that the notorious Soviet style of immortalizing heroes in terms of “our ancestors fought, and we continue their glory” will not work anymore.
Courtesy of Oles Sanin
Film director Oles Sanin against the backdrop of the Shevchenko monument.
Mr. Tykhyi asked: “In that case, what then will distinguish Ukrainian heroes from Russian heroes? Nothing… All we have is widespread peddling of necessary (and unnecessary) sacrifice – the narrative of Ukrainians who perished, but never gave up.” (“Breaking Point” producer Mr. Borisow confided to this author: “Ukrainians are just too polite.”)
While a previous Maidan film, “Winter on Fire,” became Netflix’s entry for an Oscar, it was directed by an Israeli American, Yevgeny Afineevsky. Mr. Tykhyi concluded: “Psychologically, we must consider why, when we ourselves tell our story to the world – especially America, it is not accepted as we would like… This does not interest foreigners, because Ukraine is not part of their culture; we just happen to occupy some territory on the same planet. Foreigners only care when one of their own makes a film… But we need people from all over to proclaim that Ukrainians, in fact, do exist.”
A validation
Indeed, “Breaking Point” does just that. It is the story of a war seen through eyes of individuals transformed by that war. Moreover, it is a validation of the very essence of Ukrainians.
“Breaking Point”
Protesters on the barricades.
In previous interviews, Mr. Harris explained: “We assumed we’d be speaking to an audience that was completely ignorant about the history and conditions in Ukraine.” An audience reliant on soundbites from an often skewed media. Mr. Borisow told this author how he witnessed RT operatives handing out deceitful press kits to Western media during the “little green men” appearances in Crimea.
The film “Breaking Point” does not glorify one hero or one leader. Rather, it is the story of the people, a vast mosaic of individuals brave enough to take up the struggle.
Mr. Kurkov stated: “What shocked me at Maidan was how people lost the sense of humor… and then the fear of death.” Investigative reporter Tetyana Chornovol explained how “we stopped thinking. And your soul doesn’t feel anything.” A volunteer soldier simply said: “War took away our soft spots.”
This, then, was the “Breaking Point” for all those individuals who took that fearsome step.
At production time, the war with Russia had accounted for more than 10,300 deaths on the battlefield and 1.9 million refugees, as well as 123 killed on the Maidan.
A people’s war
Above all, gripping personal stories resonate with the viewer. Two individuals linger in the memory. The aforementioned Ms. Chornovol specialized in articles on corruption and criminal involvement of Ukrainian politicians, public servants and businessmen. In the film, we see the graphic dashboard videocam footage of the 2013 attack during which she was dragged from her car, brutally beaten and left for dead. This attack sparked a massive outcry worldwide.
Ms. Chornovol later delivered a defiant funeral oration after her husband was killed fighting with the volunteer Azov Battalion in eastern Ukraine. In a heart-rending scene, she regrets not being able to answer her spouse’s last text message before he died. Ultimately, she became a founding member of the new party People’s Front and is currently a high ranking member of Ukraine’s Parliament.
“Breaking Point”
Government forces lined up with their shields.
The second individual worth mentioning is Andrij “Bohema” Sharaskin, who left his job as director of the Ternopil Children’s Theater and volunteered to fight on the eastern front. After surviving harrowing warfare in Donetsk, he returns to be mobbed by his students. He doesn’t want to live on the frontlines – that’s for professional soldiers. He doesn’t want to serve in Parliament – that’s also for experts. He declares we are not fighting to impose our way of life on Russia or anyone else, but simply “for the future of our children.”
Deception propaganda
Mr. Yatsenyuk stated: “Russians are the best liars in the world.” The film’s response to this assertion is to dissect numerous instances of Kremlin propaganda.
Promoting Russian disinformation for reporters, one woman disguised herself in different wigs and make-up to be interviewed three different times. The lies surrounding the shooting down of the MH17 passenger airliner are exploded by an early Russian news report taking credit for the shooting, plus gruesome cellphone video of Russian troops ransacking the wreckage. And a devastating montage juxtaposes the military invaders’ shoutouts to their Russian hometowns and their president with Mr. Putin’s lies that there were no Russian troops in Ukraine.
Such evidence is irrefutable.
Technical values
The video footage in “Breaking Point” is breathtaking. Selected from over 600 hours of clips, many graphic scenes are exhibited for the first time, including shots from soldiers’ cellphones and GoPro cameras on their helmets. Masterly editing and continuity integrate thoughtful interviews by historians, politicians and eyewitness participants.
Much can be learned from seeing the film more than once. Candid interviews reveal how the Ukrainian army was essentially a rag-tag bunch at the time of the Russian invasion. The maps were old. Everything had been stolen and sold, the army was not trained or fed. In essence, it was “an ugly, idiot child.” The army had to be built from the ground up. One frontline soldier suggested if it hadn’t been for millions of civilians who assured supplies and food, “the Russian flag would be flying in Kyiv.”
Pulse-pounding combat footage was filmed at great personal risk by Mr. Sanin himself. (Later, in Greece, the opposition press unsuccessfully attempted to hamstring the “fascist” film screening, by circulating a photo of Mr. Sanin in combat fatigues.)
“Breaking Point”
An action shot from the film.
Watching film of the desperate resistance of a few dozen Ukrainian volunteers at the Donetsk airport is like actually being there – hunched against the crumbling girders with Russian troops shooting from the floor below. In fact, the volunteers’ last stand has been called Ukraine’s Stalingrad.
The Russians could never have overcome these brave souls who refused to be evacuated, so they demolished the structure, burying everyone in the rubble. An eerie slow pan from a reconnaissance drone gliding over the airport debris reveals a desolate terrain like the pale face of the moon with its bombed-out craters. Only two survived. A volunteer army medic marveled: “No army in the world ever had such spirit.”
Critical response
The initial reception by film critics has been overwhelmingly positive. (While lauding the documentary’s exposition of actual Kremlin dirty deeds against Ukraine, several writers predictably also took occasion to renew the spectre of Russia’s “manipulation” of our elections and indulged in partisan swipes at the current U.S. president.)
Gone, for now, are recent narratives of “troubling ultranationalism,” “far right,” “Ukrainian fascists/anti-Semites,” “CIA-sponsored coup against an elected president,” “unknown little green men,” “civil war,” etc. It is gratifying indeed to read many reviews which not only praise the high professional quality of “Breaking Point,” but also validate Ukraine’s authentic history, the Ukrainian people’s right to choose law and democracy in their own land, and expose the truth about Russian aggression.
For centuries, Moscow’s propagandists have sowed their seeds only too well. And Western academics, “experts” and media parroted their lies. Everyone should be grateful to the creators of “Breaking Point” for so effectively constructing and helping shape the true narrative.
In their film reviews, Variety, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other major news media affirmed Ukraine’s independent national identity, the justness of its “civilized and middle-class” uprising to start the Maidan, and the “astonishing history of Ukraine… that has been invaded for centuries and ravaged for its riches.”
Distribution and future project
Many American universities have ordered copies of this documentary, and global educational distributors are working with other institutions to ensure “Breaking Point” achieves wide circulation.
Mr. Sanin, a member of the Kyiv Kobzar Guild, has a passionate interest in the folklore of his native land. He revealed to this author that his next film is based on Oleksa Dovbush, the historical “Ukrainian Robin Hood” who became a folk hero in the Carpathian Mountains in the first half of the 18th century.