This cinematographic journey, the first feature film of this 31-year-old Frenchman, immerses the spectators in the harshness of a war of position worthy of 14-18.
Loup Bureau closely followed the conflict in the Donbass region (eastern Ukraine), at a time when it was largely ignored beyond the region.
The film, in black and white, focuses on the ever-present tension and the daily life of the 30th brigade of the Ukrainian army, over several months of filming.
It was presented at the Venice Film Festival in September 2021, but obviously takes on a very special resonance with this theatrical release after the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, now at the center of world attention.
"In the Donbass region, the war never really ended," Loup Bureau told AFP.
He himself recently returned from the region, which he has covered for eight years, when fighting against Russian-backed separatists began.
He was able to return to the location of the filming of his film: from the start of the offensive, the 30th brigade suffered "heavy losses" including three of the soldiers frequently appearing in the life scenes of the documentary, he describes.
At the time, Loup Bureau wanted to show through "waiting", "the violence of war in its most physical form".
Nothing to do with the current situation, where thousands of journalists are on site, conditions that have become "very, very difficult for civilians", deprived of food and energy, and the use of much more modern artillery, he raises.
An experienced reporter, Loup Bureau was also imprisoned in 2017 in Turkey, accused of terrorism after being arrested while filming near the Iraqi border.
He wants to continue his work in the field, but giving himself the time to take a step aside from hot news: we have to "find the idea that will keep us alive and make us want to film this for months, even years".
© 2022 AFP