DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR

2023
TRT: 12 minutes, 13 seconds
Directed by Leah Loftin
Written by Olena Astasieva
Translated by John Freedman

Now streaming on DIRECTORS NOTES

@dictionaryofemotionsfilm

A woman in Kherson navigates the horrors and absurdities of daily life during the initial weeks of the Russian war on Ukraine. A hybrid short film adapted from Olena Astasieva’s personal accounts from the front lines.

It is February 2002 and Putin has just invaded Ukraine. First-hand accounts from a woman living in Russian-occupied Kherson illuminate the psychological, pragmatic, and emotional response to an abrupt new life in war time. This experimental film is anchored by the first-person narration of Olena Astasieva’s wartime accounts, portrayed in series of expressionistic vignettes that incorporate illustration and animation, studio art installations, archival footage, contemporary war photography, and fragmented recreations of narrative scenes.

DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR betrayal 6.jpg
2 DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR hunger.jpg
DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR guilt.jpg
3 DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR messages from a ukrainian friend.jpg
5 DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR russian friend.jpg
4 DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR love ILLUSTRATION by AURA LEWIS.jpg

DOC NYC | Official Selection
ANN ARBOR Film Festival | Opening Night Selection
WINNER Silver Medal in Nonfiction | 1.4 Awards of Brilliant Filmmaking (UK)
WINNER Jury Prize | Short Documentary | Lighthouse International Film Festival
WINNER Best of RPM2024 | The Brattle Theatre
FLICKERS Rhode Island International Film Festival | Official Selection
Edmonton International Film Festival | Official Selection
Revolutions Per Minute | Official Selection | Harvard CAMLab
Istanbul Experimental Film Festival | Official Selection | Salt Galata
The Nuart Los Angeles | Short Film Screening Series
Academy Award-qualifying short film

DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR
directed by Leah Loftin
written by Olena Astasieva
translated by John Freedman
illustration and animation by Aura Lewis
intro sequence animation by Bridget Johnson
music by Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggiero
featuring Andy English, Nicole Kontolefa, Leah Loftin, Natalya Sukhonos, and Leah Walsh
color design by Jerome Thelia
sound re-recording mix by Mark Phillips
narrated by Leah Loftin

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NEWS

We are delighted that RPM FEST has chosen @dictionaryofemotionsfilm for an encore at their ‘Best of RPM 2024’ screening! This specially curated year-end program “celebrates the most poetic and thought-provoking works from the past y
We are thrilled that @dictionaryofemotionsfilm will screen in Cambridge at the HARVARD CAM LAB as an official selection of the REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE Festival. @rpmfestival @harvardcamlab #rpm #rpm24 #dictionaryofemotionsfilm @leah.loftin @helen_as
We are so pleased that @dictionaryofemotionsfilm will have its Canadian premiere at the Oscar-qualifying 38th EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL on September 27! @edmfilmfest Our film will screen in the SHORT STOP 2.0: THEATRE OF THE ABSURD progra
💥BIG NEWS: We won! We are elated that @dictionaryofemotionsfilm has been awarded the 2024 LIGHTHOUSE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short! We had an amazing time at this terrific seaside festival, catching up with film f
This Thursday, @dictionaryofemotionsfilm will screen at the LIGHTHOUSE International Film Festival! We are so excited to attend this terrific oceanside fest with some of the best films from this year’s circuit @lighthouseinternationalfilm #liff
We were so pleased to be an official selection of the 2024 ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL. @dictionaryofemotionsfilm screened at Istanbul’s beautiful modern art museum SALT GALATA (in an incredibly designed theatre!), amidst
Our director Leah Loftin was interviewed by CBS News at the 62nd Ann Arbor Film Festival at the opening night premiere! @leah.loftin @dictionaryofemotionsfilm FULL INTERVIEW: https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/video/annual-ann-arbor-film-festival-kicks
We are very excited to announce that @dictionaryofemotionsfilm will premiere as an official selection of the Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival this week! Our film will screen alongside incredible experimental works from around the glo
Wow💥The 1.4 Awards for Brilliant Filmmaking have just named our director @leah.loftin and @dictionaryofemotionsfilm to the official 2024 Shortlist! @_onepointfour 1.4 AWARDS OF BRILLIANT FILMMAKING [ London ] The 1.4 Awards celebrate the world&rsq
We had an incredible experience premiering @dictionaryofemotionsfilm on opening night at the 62nd ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL a few weeks back. It was so amazing to be a part of such a legendary festival for avant-garde cinema and amongst such visionary
DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR hunger 2.jpg
DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR intro sequence.jpg
DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR guilt.jpg
DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR betrayal.jpg