Mantas Kvedaravičius's Mariupolis 2, the documentary depicting life in Ukraine's besieged port city, will open this year's edition of Anonimul International Independent Film Festival.

Lithuanian filmmaker and anthropologist Mantas Kvedaravičius was killed this spring, while filming the project, which aimed to show how life went on amid the bombing.

The documentary premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It was completed by co-director and Kvedaravičius' fiancée Hanna Bilobrova and the project's producers.

Mariupolis 2 is part of the festival's Focus Ukraine program, alongside Maksym Nakonechnyi's Butterfly Vision and Nataliia Vorozhbyt's Bad Roads.

Butterfly Vision premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, while Bad Roads received five trophies from the Ukrainian Film Academy, including for Best Script.

The program of the festival covers two short film competitions, Romanian and international, a feature film competition, screenings outside the competitions and various other events.

Numerous filmmakers will be present for meetings and talks with the public. The program is updated here.

The festival takes place between August 8 and August 14 in Sfântu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta.

(Photo: Dragos Asaftei, courtesy of Anonimul)

simona@romania-insider.com