One Aloe, One Ficus, One Avocado and Six Dracaenas

What to take, what to leave? How important are material possessions when you’re trying to save your life? Packages from Ukraine – filled with everything and nothing – wait patiently under a bridge to be found, while a voice stirs memories of frivolous and treasured personal effects, in an apparent heart-breaking farewell letter to Kiev. There is a washing machine wrapped in tape, metres-long indoor plants and their roots, and children's drawings among hundreds of boxes on which the addresses of Ukrainian cities are written. This place resembles a warehouse of lost things. The silence is broken by a woman's voice, that of the owner of one of these boxes. Each item has a story, a memory that is being left behind. Through her words the home seems to come alive, each item imbued with a sense of warmth and familiarity. People begin to appear. They sift through the boxes, searching for their treasured possessions. Some are filled with joy, others with sadness. Meanwhile a woman's voice questions: does the loss of belongings matter?

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Direction: Marta Smerechynska

Script: Marta Smerechynska, Kateryna Babkina

Cinematography: Asma Benazouz, Sarp Uzunoglu

Editing: Marta Smerechynska

Sound: Karina Rezhevska, Camille Montocchio

Music: Marusya Chuprinenko

Production: La Fémis

Producers: Marta Smerechynska, Julie Tingaud

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: France, Ukraine

Production Year: 2023

Duration: 8'

Contact: Marta Smerechynska

Awards/Distinctions: Union of the Ukrainian Film Critics Prize Special Mention – Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art (2023)

Marta Smerechynska

Filmography

2022 Diary of a Bride of Christ
2023 One Aloe, One Ficus, One Avocado and Six Dracaenas (short)