Silent Flood

For decades, the members of this traditional religious community have lived in isolation along the Dniester River in western Ukraine. Their peaceful existence has often been disrupted by the river’s fluctuating water levels, but since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, their way of life has come under pressure from a far greater threat.

The first part of Silent Flood presents beautiful, poetic images of their idyllic surroundings. The farmers, whose community split from the Amish long ago, work the land with horse and cart. Their children play and do laundry in the river, and in the evenings families gather for candlelit dinners – there is no electricity.

In the second part, the film leaves the village, following a special shipment to the front. As the lens shifts from the community to Ukrainian soldiers longing for home, we see how the pressures of war bring these two worlds together. The peace-loving farmers find their own way to contribute. Without ever showing a soldier in combat, the film offers a unique perspective on a country and its people at war.

Silent Flood premiered in the International Competition at IDFA, where it won the Award for Best Cinematography. (source: www.idfa.nl)