Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa made a mark in 2012 with his bracingly spare war story In the Fog. Now he reverts to his original trade as documentary maker, recording the Kiev protests of winter 2013-14 against Ukraine’s then president Viktor Yanukovych.
Loznitsa and two other cameramen set up shop in the city’s Independence Square to follow the protests over several months, which culminated in an invasion of armed police. We get to watch events captured in the white heat of their urgency, but there’s no directorial rhetoric. Maidan simply presents a series of locked shots, the camera moving only a couple of times, when its operators risk getting tear-gassed or worse. Some sequences take us backstage, into buildings where people paint placards, try to catch some sleep or prepare sandwiches (yes, the revolution needs sandwiches too). Others show the action outside – sometimes peaceful, sometimes tumultuous or downright terrifying.
Maidan’s rigorous execution, suggestive of gallery video, feels detached but that only makes its panorama all the more vivid. Loznitsa offers something that these days is rare and precious: close-up coverage of history in the making that doesn’t have “breaking news” ribbons or network logos plastered all over it.
