Evgeny Afineevsky: «If we forget about the war in Ukraine, we’ll have the end of the world tomorrow»

Evgeny looks serious when he says that the Third World War is already in progress. Coming from a person who made documentaries in Ukraine and Syria, this opinion is something to be considered by people who have not been to these countries: He must have seen and documented a lot to form such an impression.

Why care about Ukraine?

Evgeny Afineevsky: The point is to continue giving voice to the Ukrainian people. I think what is interesting is when I finished «Winter on Fire», I was asked many times whether I will be doing any other project about the war. Remember, the war started for the Ukrainian people on 20 February 2014. The problem is that for the rest of the world the war started in 2022. And I think this is most important: to remind the world that actually the war started in 2014, and because the world neglected the war for eight years, Putin’s unpunished crimes allowed Putin to start an all-out war against Ukraine, which I consider part of World War Three. Some people may disagree with me but I, as a citizen of the world, and I consider myself a citizen of the world because I travel a lot, and I have been to Syria, to many places, I do consider this WW3 in the beginning.
So for me, the point is to remind the world that because we neglected eight years of the war, we allowed to escalate it into a much bigger war, which is even now affecting the entire world. And I think that if we again, now, forget about the war raging here every day, taking lives of innocent people, and of soldiers, we will have the end of the world tomorrow.

Andriy Kulykov: Evgeny, you keep saying «we forget,» «we neglect.» But I don’t think that you have neglected the war. Why do you care so much?

Evgeny Afineevsky: I think when I’m saying «we», I mean that I am part of the West, of Western civilization. I say «we» because it is about Europe and the United States, and I am an American citizen. So when I say «we» I mean Europe and the United States. Listen, the United States and Great Britain, together with Russia, signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. So, it’s our responsibility today: to protect Ukraine. It’s the West who neglected the war, and this is why I say «we».
Now, why do I care? I guess I want to have future in this world, future for the kids, and this is specifically why I care. I see how sophisticated are weapons today, and I see World War 3 not as an ordinary war but as a hybrid war. Last century, we had World War 2, and there were missiles, and bombs, and landmines, but today the war is much more sophisticated, the weapons are much more lethal, and at the same time there is another side of this war: media. Cameras became weapons. And this has not started today or yesterday. I think, cameras became weapons in 2010-11, in many countries.

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You may also listen and read: Dr Marta Dyczok: «This horrible war has had one positive side effect»

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Propaganda does not need visas

Andriy Kulykov: I actually do not agree because I think that this happened much earlier. The scale of propaganda may be different but we have a lot of footage from WW2…

Evgeny Afineevsky: Listen, propaganda was there. Goebbels created the theory of Big Lie, and Hitler published this in his book, «Mein Kampf». But propaganda was not so effective as it is now. Today, media use all the modern technology. There was no Internet during WW3, so you could not brainwash people. Earlier, you only could brainwash people who had a TV set or were reading newspapers.

Andriy Kulykov: You forget about radio. In Nazi Germany and during long periods of the USSR, everyone who had a radio receiver had to register with authorities.

Evgeny Afineevsky: Yes, and there was control over media. But today, because we have so much access to the Internet, so much access to all kind of things, today cameras are seen as propaganda machines, and this is dangerous. The problem that not everybody understands is, considering propaganda in the United States or Germany, that propaganda doesn’t need a visa, and it’s already there. It goes through the borders easily, and people do not understand this, specifically in my country, the United States. In the United States, people are too lazy to do fact-checking, and this is a huge problem. This is why for me, today, the war has two sides, and the really big side is cameras and the propaganda machine.

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You may also read or listen on Hromadske Radio: 2022 helped Ukrainians to overcome the inferiority complex — Volodymyr Yermolenko

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Fill the gap in what the world audience is missing

Andriy Kuulykov: So you are again in Ukraine to film something new and then present your vision to the world or just to recuperate on what you have already done?

Evgeny Afineevsky: First of all, it is about my new film, «Freedom on Fire», which may be regarded as a companion piece to «Winter on Fire.» And here again, we are going back to «What is the point?» The point is that in 2022, when the full-scale invasion happened, I immediately engaged my entire team from «Winter on Fire», and we even doubled the team on the ground. During the Maidan it was all in one city, in one square, and lasted for only 93 days, there were different points in the country where Russia attacked Ukraine, and I also wanted to cover the refugee crisis. I also wanted to interview some people outside of Ukraine. So we literally doubled the number of lens on the ground, and we created the movie. It has been updated three times. We premiered the movie on the 10th anniversary of the Maidan. In the USA, it was premiered in Washington DC, at the Institute of Peace, and it was an amazing event. This film is about what has happened in the last two years, and it also takes us back to the Maidan, and we try to fill the gap in the information that the world audience missed. For me, it was important to say, «Hey, in 2024, there will be 10 years of the war. And the war increases in scope every day. We need to start to build in our minds that this is WW3, not just a local conflict, the war that is impacting on the entire world.» We need to educate the world about that. And we need to engage the entire world. If we succeed in this, then together, like in Maidan, we can win the situation.

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You may also listen and read: Anastasia Stanko: «My only one decision as a journalist was I should go to the front line»

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ALSO: How Evgeny Afineevsky’s films were perceived in Russia, if it was possible to show them there at all.

ALSO: How officials in «Netflix» could not understand why Evgeny Afineevsky’s films were made the way they were made and how he succeeded in persuading them.

ALSO: What criticism Evgeny Afineevsky heard from Ukrainians about his new film, especially from those living abroad.

ALSO: What sort of movies does Evgeny Afineevsky like to watch and why.

ALSO: Why Evgeny Afineevsky starts his films with one idea about how the film should evolve, and then the idea is changed.

ALSO: In which way Evgeny Afineevsky’s movies are a call for action and what kind of action they call for.

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You may listen to the full interview by turning on the audio player at the top of the page.