Everything Else Is Memory

Film created by Alexandra Green, Lena Bovay and Pete Diggens to mark the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Forced to adapt to a loss of stability under the present state of war, the situation in Ukraine continues to impact the lives of millions. In a bid to shed light on the creativity the country has given birth to, as its population navigates a sudden shift in circumstances, choreographer Alexandra Green joins forces with Ukrainian-born dancer Lena Bovay, and musician Pete Diggens for the emotive movement film,Everything Else is Memory.

With the aim to change the narrative around forced migration, humanitarian charity Choose Love supports refugees and displaced people across the world, campaigning for the right to seek safety, and helping them rebuild after tragedy. By raising awareness and funds for the Ukrainian arm of the charity, Everything Else is Memory serves as a call to action, expressing the surge of emotions felt by Ukrainians living within, and far from, their country as it finds itself in a fight for freedom. Punctuated by the voice of Ukrainian actress Liza Tsilyk, reciting Marianna Kiyanovska’s we swallowed an air like earth, the film opens into darkness, exploring the isolation and engulfing shadow of the war. As the dancers move through a defiant protest in movement, Green, Bovay and Diggens communicate the collective dignity and determination of the Ukrainian people, coming together as a force for resistance.

Inhabiting a subterranean world, the film was shot within the Brunel Tunnel shaft in South London, relying upon a team of volunteers and generous donations of equipment. Among the claustrophobic darkness, earthy atmosphere and deafening stillness, Everything Else is Memory reflects the daily realities of millions of Ukrainian civilians sheltering underground as their cities are attacked above, here weaving together in choreographed movement, with an undercurrent of relentless energy that captures the power to survive. 

Released on NOWNESS

Director Alexandra Green

Producer Scarlett Anderson 

Dancers Lena Bovay, Sari Mizoe, Yanki Yau, Louisa Fernando, Kamira Samuel, Daisy King, Anouk Jouanne, Angelica Wolanska, Andrea Restrepo, Emma Holt, Tilly Woodward, Maddie Millar, Sophie Chinner, Sarah Golden & Lea Oroz

DOP Charlie Knight 
Steadicam Doug Walshe
Focus Puller Fabio Olgiati
2nd AC Lluc Mestre
Gaffer Ana Krkljus
Spark Meg Sharp

Music Pete Diggens and Matt Frost
‘Mondo Scuro’ - Algorithim remix
Voiceover Artist Liza Tsilyk

Editor Lewis Jones 
Edit House Cousin
Colourist Myles Bevan
Colour Producer Dan Kreeger
Post House Time Based Arts 

Camera Equipment Emmyland 
Lighting Equipment SHL 
Film Stock and Processing Cinelab 
Production Company Spoon Studios 

Directors Rep Bullion Productions
Additional Casting Olga Lyubarova

Filmed at The Brunel Museum

we swallowed an air like earth
By Marianna Kiyanovska
Translated from Ukrainian by Oksana Lutsyshyna and Kevin Vaughn
Taken from Words for War: New Poems from Ukraine
Publisher Academic Studies Press
Special thanks to Aarti Mahtani