Daryna Mamaisur
Directing
Biography
Daryna Mamaisur was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is a visual artist and a filmmaker, currently living and studying in Lisbon, Portugal. Having a background in art theory and photography, she developed her practice at the intersection of different disciplines. With the research-based approach, Daryna addresses the topics she is most fascinated with and that can be put in line Space-Memory-Language. Her works were related to transformations of public space, and landscape due to their connection to visual culture and memory. Besides, she has a particular interest in situations when language and vocal expression appear fragile and incapable to seize reality. She has a bachelor’s degree in Publishing from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (2012) and a master’s degree in Philosophy from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (2014). She participated in various short-term workshops on photography and art critics, and also was selected for the art residencies: Art Prospect Residency (Baku, Azerbaijan), and Landscape As a Monument A-I-R Programme. She took part in Plant Gave Us Everything, Donbas Studies Summer School (2019) and in a practical and experimental educational course on art Positions of the Artist (2020) by MethodFund. Back in Kyiv, Daryna was working as a freelance writer and translator for Ukrainian magazines and was also involved to work in cultural institutions. She was coordinating the photo book department at Rodovid publishing and also working as a writer/editor and project coordinator at IDFF Docudays UA. She is currently part of DocNomads, a joint master’s program in documentary filmmaking, based in Lisbon, Budapest and Brussels. Her fascination with documentary cinema derives from the crucial sensitivity toward reality it requires from the filmmaker. But also – from the broad and complex understanding of what is considered to be document and real, enabling many possibilities for experiments inside the genre.
Known For
While studying in Bruxelles, Daryna Mamaisur is caught up in the conflict tearing through her country. She questions the way in which to speak about it, at a distance, while cinema seems the “least appropriate” means.
I Stumble Every Time I Hear From Kyiv
There are things that are indescribable and unspeakable when the disasters that affect our lives are beyond comprehension. Certain fundamental experiences seem irreducible to any form of expression. So how do we convey their intensity? How do we put them into words? Here, we’re talking about the war inflicted on the Ukrainians for over a year. Daryna Mamaisur is Ukrainian and currently lives in Portugal. O Fumo do Fogo, somewhere between a film diary and an essay, sketches with admirable reserve a path towards the possibility of communicating.
Smoke of the Fire
Inga has been living in Berlin for 13 years, now her mother is coming to her, fleeing Russia's war in Ukraine. About everyday life in a war that is far and near at the same time, between buying fish, learning German, dreaming of Putin's death and waking up.
How Far Is Close
A lyrical portrayal of the Ukrainian steppe, highlighting its wildlife and rhythms of life amid human and environmental change.