The Ukrainian documentary film “Diviya” directed by Dmitry Greshko received the Tom Berman Award and was recognized as the best documentary film at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in the USA. For Ukrainian cinema, this is not just another festival success, but an important signal: the theme of the war in Ukraine continues to resonate in the international cultural agenda not only through the chronicle of the front but also through the language of nature, memory, and destroyed space.
For the Israeli audience, this news is especially understandable on an emotional level. In a country where the theme of war has long ceased to be an abstraction, such films are perceived not as distant arthouse, but as an attempt to honestly show what happens to the land when violence passes through it. And that is why the victory of “Diviya” in the USA goes beyond the narrow professional conversation about cinema.
Why the victory of “Diviya” in the USA is important not only for Ukrainian cinema
The Ann Arbor Film Festival was held from March 24 to 29, and then continued online until April 13. The Ukrainian film received the Tom Berman Award, which is given to the best documentary film of the program. Along with the recognition, the film team also received a cash prize of $5,000.
The very fact of this award is important in several dimensions. Firstly, it is a prestigious platform long associated with experimental and auteur cinema. Secondly, the victory shows that the Ukrainian theme remains noticeable in the international cultural environment not only as a political plot but also as an independent artistic statement.
What Dmitry Greshko’s film is about
“Diviya” is a film-journey through Ukrainian land during the war. The film shows the country before the full-scale invasion and after it, combining footage of destruction, traces of battles, and the slow recovery of nature.
The authors consciously refuse dialogues and voice-over text. Instead, the film is built on images, sound, the texture of space, and the movement of the land itself, which experiences the war along with people. In the frame — burnt forests, craters in fields, twisted military equipment, traces of violence literally inscribed in the landscape.
But “Diviya” is not limited to visual testimony of destruction. In this film, nature does not fall silent completely. There remains movement, the seasonal rhythm, the growth of grass, the gradual return of life even to where the line of destruction recently passed.
What makes this film powerful and why it can resonate in Israel
The main feature of “Diviya” is that it shows the war not through the usual set of news footage, but through a space that cannot lie. The land, forest, field, charred areas, rusty remains of equipment — all this becomes an independent testimony of what is happening.
Such intonation makes the film especially strong. It does not argue, does not declare, does not press with words. Instead, it forces the viewer to watch longer and more attentively. On the screen, along with nature, there are sappers, ecologists, body searchers, and zoo volunteers — people who help the land and living beings return to life in the conditions of ongoing war.
Why this is more than just festival cinema
In the Middle East, it is well understood that war destroys not only homes and destinies. It changes the very environment, air, water, forests, fields, the familiar geography of life. That is why a film about the impact of war on the nature of Ukraine can be heard in Israel especially acutely.
In this context, NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency draws attention to an important thing: the Ukrainian film speaks about the war without direct slogans, but its message becomes only stronger because of this. It shows that even after fire and metal, there remains a struggle for recovery, and this struggle concerns not only states but also the land itself.
What is known about the Ann Arbor Film Festival
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is considered the oldest festival of experimental and avant-garde cinema in North America. It was founded in 1963 and has long become one of the iconic platforms for auteur cinema working with non-standard form, new visual language, and bold documentary solutions.
This year, the festival paid significant attention to Ukrainian cinema both in the competition and non-competition programs. In addition to “Diviya”, the documentary competition also included the film by Adelina Borets “Flowers of Ukraine”.
What this award means for the Ukrainian cultural agenda
The Tom Berman Award is not just a commemorative mark in the festival catalog. It emphasizes that Ukrainian documentary cinema today is perceived as part of a large international conversation about violence, memory, resilience, and the future after the catastrophe.
That is why the victory of “Diviya” in the USA can be considered important not only for director Dmitry Greshko and his team. It is another confirmation that the Ukrainian story continues to find strong artistic forms and reach a global audience through a language that does not require translation — the language of images, silence, and survival.