Weightless - English subtitled
Poetic documentary about ethnographer Khrystyna Bunii, who documents the culture of the Hutsuls in the southwest of Ukraine. The survival of their suppressed culture is under threat.
Khrystyna Bunii travels solo through Ukraine's remote south-west – a transnational region called Hutsulshchyna – to conduct visual research on the culture of the Hutsuls. She travels from village to village, interacting with locals and digitising family photos. In this way, what would otherwise be lost is preserved.
Directors Marta Hryniuk and Nick Thomas are visual artists, filmmakers and cultural organisers based in Rotterdam, where they founded the film collective WET film. They are also part of the Filmwerkplaats, an artist-run film studio specialising in 16mm film. Created through a close collaboration between the directors and protagonist Bunii, WEIGHTLESS combines an observational and direct filmmaking style with staged performances.