Luka + supporting film Primus
Sumptuous drama shot in Sicily by Jessica Woodworth (Khadak), in menacing black and white, about a soldier preparing to attack an enemy that may not even exist.
Luka, a young and ambitious soldier, joins the army in the legendary Fort Kairos, an outpost in an imaginary steppe, where heroic warriors defend the remains of civilization. His hopes to serve as an elite sniper are crushed when he is assigned to maintenance work and must submit to the code of Kairos: obedience-endurance-sacrifice. As he rises through the ranks, Luka finds joy and strength in friendships with Konstantin, an enigmatic radar engineer, and Geronimo, a light-hearted private. But gradually, Luka has more and more questions. Does the enemy even exist? What will come of the battle he longs for? And what is the point of the strict regime and absurd punishments to which soldiers are subjected?
LUKA is inspired by Dino Buzzati’s novel THE TARTAR STEPPE. The menacing atmosphere in this stylised black-and-white film is enhanced by the electronic soundtrack.
NB: The screening of LUKA will be preceded by PRIMUS (Jonas Smulders, Netherlands 2023, 7 min.), a short black-and-white film (language: Dutch) in which two characters yearning for love meet in a launderette that seems to be infinitely large. The film was directed by the lead actor from LUKA.