Personal, political and social developments unfold in Fragments of Ice, edited together from fifteen VHS tapes covering the period 1986 to 1994: video diaries shot by the director’s father, a champion figure-skater, on his foreign tours with the Ukrainian Ensemble Ballet on Ice, as well as in his own home. As we follow director Maria Stoianova growing up, we witness the parallel collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine’s journey towards regaining its independence, then its transition to a market economy. Expectations reflected in the glamourous footage of the West, shot by Stoianova’s father on his tours, contrast starkly with the home video footage of peeling walls, collapsed ceilings and cockroaches back at the family flat.

Fragments of Ice captures both the broad sweep of history and the impact of this on the lives of real people, ending with a new upheaval – the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The End of History never happened”, Stoianova muses. “It froze and caught up with us years later.”

Dir. Maria Stoianova | 95min | 2024 | Ukraine, Norway

"a personal piece about memory, and an enigmatic essay about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union.... It is innocent and transparent, and yet subtly encumbered by the sadness of history. I can imagine Adam Curtis quoting this in its entirety for some new compilation about the post-communist 20th century" - Guardian

"As a sensitive reflection on the substance of the images emerges, so too the position of Ukraine is sketched out – caught between a Russian stranglehold and a consolidation of the expression of national sentiment towards the West. A historical, cultural and personal perspective on the geopolitical present" - Visions du Reel

"Stoianova...nudges at the fluidity of history and memory. We may freeze parts of it for a moment but we can never truly know where we lie on its continuum or when the past will assert itself, because, in the end, we can only live as resiliently as we’re able in the present moment" - Screendaily