Oscar Shortlist Interviews: Director Anastasiia Falileieva’s Favorite Shot From ‘I Died In Irpin’ (EXCLUSIVE)

We invited the filmmakers behind each of this year’s 15 Oscar-shortlisted animated shorts to share their favorite shot from their film and explain why it’s special to them.

Nomination voting starts on January 12 and runs through January 16.

Today, we’re featuring Anastasiia Falileieva’s autobiographic short ‘I Died in Irpin,’ about her disorienting escape with her at-the-time boyfriend from Kyiv to Irpin after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, only to find themselves trapped as conditions rapidly deteriorated. A story of collective human trauma and a more personal abusive relationship, the short captures how one can physically escape a place yet remain emotionally bound to it. Through charcoal, hand-drawn animation on paper, Falileieva’s story plays out as one of tremendous strength and relatable human vulnerability.

Below, find the director’s favorite scene and why it means so much to her:

The most significant shot for me is the one in the end where I pull my sweater up, and there is emptiness… We can only hear the burning sound. The burning without a subject. I remember how I came up with this shot.

My process of inventing a film always starts from a particular shot, and then I grow the whole story around it. I imagined this shot on the second day after the escape. From Irpin we arrived to Bila Tserkva city, and the next day headed to Rivne city. While we were on the road, I was thinking a lot. I had an appointment with a war psychologist in the evening in Rivne, so I was preparing what I should talk about, gathering what I remember, and reconstructing what I feel. And that was the only thought that came to me. I’m doubting if it exists. I believe that I died and everything is not real. I’m only a shell. I couldn’t believe I survived.

There was another thing that made my derealization even worse — when we just evacuated to Bila Tserkva after a deadly day-long ride, my ex fell on the floor, exhausted, and fell asleep. I was very nervous and tried to talk with his parents about the whole terror that happened. But they stated, “Why are you shouting and crying? Nothing happened, really. Nobody died.” Today, I believe that was their defense mechanism after insane stress, but at the moment, it ruined the crumbs of sanity in me. Hopefully, later, other people that I met from Irpin were confirming and sharing the same memories and feelings as mine, and finally I felt heard and not crazy.

I’ve been struggling with a strong feeling that I died for 2 years, with the help of a psychiatrist, meds, and therapy. Now it’s gotten better, but a feeling of a near-death experience will never leave me.