SAN SEBASTIÁN 2026 New Directors
Review: February, Seven Days
- The debut feature by German-Ukrainian filmmaker Tatjana Moutchnik delicately and sagely portrays the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on a family
It has been over four years since Europe and the world held their breath upon witnessing the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is the moment that February, Seven Days, the feature debut by German-Ukrainian director Tatjana Moutchnik, transports us back to. The film has premiered in the New Directors section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Specifically, the movie takes us to a German city where two brothers (Volodymyr Holosniak and Serhii Korshikov) come together to hold their mother's funeral. One of them lives in that city with his two daughters and his father; the other travels from Odesa with his son. The patriarch insists that the family observe the Jewish rite of shiva to honour his recently deceased wife. No one in the family seems entirely sure how the rite works, but it involves setting aside their usual routines for seven days and opening the doors of the home to receive the comfort of loved ones.
In this context, the tensions typical of any family reunion quickly become apparent. In addition to the usual bickering of relatives unaccustomed to spending much time together, we get the stress and strain brought about by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The grandfather clings to his Russian identity; that is the language the family uses in their interactions, and the young Ukrainian visiting his family is constantly corrected when he uses his own tongue. Even though the situation is dramatic enough and every member of this family has plenty on their mind, the imminence of war and the unease it provokes are omnipresent.
The great achievement of February, Seven Days is to draw us into the domestic drama experienced by thousands of families in which Russian and Ukrainian identities intertwine before, during and after the final outbreak of the conflict. The film unfolds almost entirely in the family flat, inevitably bringing to mind Cristi Puiu's splendid Sieranevada. As in that movie, the family's everyday life, the authenticity of the setting in which everything takes place, and the finely tuned ensemble yield a sense of intimacy that makes it impossible not to empathise with, and suffer alongside, the protagonists as uncertainty engulfs them. Without becoming excessively melodramatic despite the gravity of what it depicts, the film even allows itself a few comic reprieves, arising largely from the cast's palpable rapport.
For those of us lucky enough to have only experienced war through television, this feature is an excellent vehicle for trying to put ourselves in the shoes of ordinary people who see their lives split in two overnight without fully understanding why. It is also a non-propagandistic plea against the absurdity of war and the artificiality of identity conflicts.
February, Seven Days is a production by Wood Water Films, Wega Film and Nephilim Producciones. Its international sales are handled by Reason8.
(Translated from Spanish)
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