Acclaimed cinematographer Artem Ryzhykov (The Russian Woodpecker) captures his first-person perspective as a soldier in Ukraine’s armed forces in a work layered with complexity, humour, and artistry. Co-directed with Juan Camilo Cruz.
A Simple Soldier is rooted in Ukraine’s current tragedy of war, but it has the power to resonate for years to come for its complexity, humour, and artistry. The soldier in the title is the film’s co-director, cinematographer, and narrator Artem Ryzhykov. Documentary fans may remember Ryzhykov’s stunning camera work in the Sundance Grand Prize winner The Russian Woodpecker from 10 years ago. That film might have launched him into an international career, but he stuck close to the unfolding events in his country. When Russia invaded in 2022, Ryzhykov initially hoped to shoot with his camera, but he quickly learned his country needed him more as a soldier. For more than three years, he managed both roles. Fellow combatants called him “Canon” because his camera was ever-present.
The film’s co-director is Juan Camilo Cruz from Colombia. In the lead-up to Russia’s invasion, he was seeking TV reportage of Ukrainian civilians in training and he reached out to Ryzhykov. The two formed a long-distance bond and created this film without ever meeting in person. Cruz wrote in a director’s statement, “What I saw in Artem’s footage was not just the unfolding of a geopolitical crisis but the intimate, unspoken struggles of a man trying to make sense of his place in it all.”
Through Ryzhykov’s lens we get to know several figures coping as best they can with jokes, philosophy, camaraderie, and love. “It’s about the quiet, relentless moments of survival,” Ryzhykov wrote, “capturing the relentless push to keep moving forward when everything in you wants to stop.”
THOM POWERS
Screenings
Scotiabank 6
TIFF Lightbox 4
Scotiabank 6