09/07/2025 - The Ukrainian director discusses choosing his film’s title, the difficulties he encountered while shooting and his intended target audience

(© Veronica Orciari)

We spoke to Dmytro Hreshko, the director of the Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe Competition title Divia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dmytro Hreshko
film profile]. The documentary is set in Ukraine and broaches the topic of the ongoing war while blending it with a look at environmental issues.

Cineuropa: The title of your film refers to a Slavic goddess that represents nature as well as rebelliousness in the face of war and death. Did the title come first, with you adapting the concept to it, or did you choose the title after having already developed the film?
Dmytro Hreshko: I chose this title at the start of the project. I was looking for something that could express the concept of nature, and I was searching for something from Roman and Greek mythology as well. So, I started researching ideas linked to that and found the name Divia, related to Slavic mythology. I decided to use it because it was short, even though in the past, I have usually preferred longer titles. I thought it really captured the idea of nature, and we ended up keeping it all the way through. After all, the goal of the film was to show nature and somehow its hidden corners, its behaviour.

Mostly in the film, we see monumental and technically challenging shots. How did you work on these? How did you manage the aerial shots?
We started shooting three years ago, and it took two years. The situation with regard to the war changed over time. Two years ago, it was still possible to shoot with drones. At first, I received support from the Ministry of Ecology: they connected me with local people and organisations. We also worked with deminers who showed us certain areas. It was indeed dangerous. In these war zones, we had to wear protective gear, and carry medical supplies and a full tactical backpack, just in case. Sometimes, you’d find yourself near a hidden threat without knowing it.

Two years ago, it was easier, but now it's harder. Drones are everywhere, and people can be hit at any time. I’m very grateful that our crew finished safely without any accidents. For example, the man who can be seen in the film, a volunteer who helps animals, was injured after filming. He was working on a farm, operating a machine, and went over a mine. He lost an eye and suffered injuries to other parts of his body. He was lucky because usually, such accidents are fatal. Some of the deminers we met in the area were also injured or traumatised. The danger is constant: mines, Russian bombing, front-line cities under threat… We even met people protesting after having lost their legs or other body parts to mines. These are strange and harsh places.

Did the shoot take a long time? You must have had a lot of footage…
Yes, we had 77 shooting days and about 130 hours’ worth of material. We’re thinking about how we can share this material through other documentaries about ecology, after the movie’s premiere and festival run. Right now, it’s almost impossible to shoot this kind of footage again because of safety issues and the drone situation.

You chose to use only music to accompany the images, without any voice-over narrating the film. Did you ever consider adding spoken commentary, or were you always committed to letting the images speak for themselves?
We developed this project through many pitching sessions and workshops, and received mixed feedback. Some suggested we make it a purely visual piece without any commentary, while others wanted voice-overs and on-screen text to make it more understandable. In the end, we chose to make the film broader, rather than concentrating on some specific thing. Even during the editing, we considered adding statistics – for example, how much of Ukraine is mined or how many forests have been burned, but that information changes daily, so it didn’t feel right. The war is still ongoing, and the data grow old and outdated quickly.

Since the film speaks about two major topics, war and the environment, who was the audience you had in mind?
I did, and still do, think about the audience, mainly from a dramaturgical perspective: I didn’t want the film to feel boring. But I wasn’t thinking about any specific demographic; instead, I focused on realising my concept and making it clear for a broad audience. I didn’t want it to resonate only with documentary experts who know all the nuances of cinema; I wanted something more accessible, and at Karlovy Vary, we were lucky to have that mixed audience, closer to the general public. It’s been interesting to hear how they interpreted the visuals, the music and the sound.