The poster for the documentary Black Sunflowers, the Ukraine war-themed documentary that just made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, shows a young man dancing in a room. Look more closely and you can see he is missing part of his right leg, below the knee.
This image shows the reality for many young Ukrainians severely impacted by Russia’s war of aggression – some have been maimed, some bear psychic wounds, others have given up dreams they nurtured before the full-scale invasion, but most retain a determination to live life with abandon when no future is guaranteed.
James Marcus Haney/Black Sunflowers
“There are so many films that have come out about Ukraine so far and a lot of them are very, very war-focused and heavy and grim, and they’re very important films that need to be seen,” observed director James Marcus Haney as he stopped by Deadline’s Studio at TIFF. “All those films showed horrible atrocities this war has brought to Ukraine, the death, the burnt-out villages, the broken soldiers. There wasn’t much that I was seeing showing all the things that were worth fighting for, all the light in Ukraine. And my experiences going there the first couple trips versus what I’d seen in these films and on the news was there’s a slight disconnect… So many people didn’t know how much light is still in Ukraine and how bright these people are shining.”
Twin sisters Anna and Tetyana Diianchuk, who appear in the film, maintain their focus as artists, but go to intense ragers to take their minds off war. Young soldiers and injured vets also join in those frenetic dance parties (one vet – probably the guy in the poster – holds his prosthetic leg aloft at one wild rager).
A young Ukrainian war veteran holds his prosthetic leg aloft at a concert in ‘Black Sunflowers.’
James Marcus Haney/Black Sunflowers
“For soldiers, for sure it’s super important because it’s very hard to return to your daily life and because your daily life, it’s not any more regular life,” Tetyana said. “For me, it’s like you have so many thoughts around you and [you] sort them out when you are dancing so hard. When you are coming out from the party already going home, you feel like some thoughts [are] already gone. You [are] kind of sorting out your brain there.”
Nikoletta Stoianova wanted to be a nature photographer but switched her attention to documenting war after the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
“I only turned 19 barely at the time and I immediately realized that I cannot get to the front, but at least I can go and get some photos which can show the truth [to] the world about everything that’s going on,” Stoianova said. “I would love to do more. I would love that more people knew about it. And that’s why I’m so happy and pleased that Marcus came to Ukraine to make the whole film about that. Because when you’re young and you’re feeling already like 45 years old in the depth of your soul, it’s not cool because it drains you out. It exhausts you.”
Sean Penn, who has championed the cause of Ukraine and directed his own documentary about Ukraine, 2023’s Superpower, serves as an executive producer of Black Sunflowers. He came to Toronto to support Haney’s film.
“I said also to him yesterday that [we’re] really honored and it’s really cool that you’re not only supporting by your words, but you also do some actions,” Tetyana Diianchuk said of Penn. “You’re coming, you’re volunteering, you care. And now you are also trying to invest in the… movie about Ukraine. So yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
In the video above, Stoianova addresses the meaning of the title Black Sunflowers; Haney talks about how the Trump administration’s gutting of USAID has harmed soldiers in Ukraine and what it means to premiere his documentary at the Toronto Film Festival after nearing making his TIFF debut over a decade ago.
The Deadline Studio at TIFF is hosted at Bisha Hotel and presented by Volvo, Columbia, Patrón and Schwarzkopf.
Panelists: James Marcus Haney (director); Nikoletta Stoianova (subject); Anna Diianchuk (subject); Tetyana Diianchuk (subject)
First Screening: Friday, Sept. 11 at Scotiabank Theatre
Sales agent: Charades and CAA Media Finance