Inspired by W.G. Sebald’s book and based on WWII archive footage, the film puts forward the question: is it morally acceptable to use the civilian population as a means of war? Is it possible to justify mass destruction for the sake of higher 'moral' ideals? The question remains as relevant today, as it was 80 years ago, and its urgency is tragically manifested in current events.
The Natural History of Destruction
The Natural History of Destruction
25th TiDF: Greek Premiere
Screening Schedule
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No physical screenings scheduled. |
- Direction: Sergei Loznitsa
- Script: Sergei Loznitsa
- Editing: Danielius Kokanauskis
- Sound: Vladimir Golovnitski
- Music: Christiaan Verbeek
- Production: LOOKSfilm, Studio Uljana Kim, ATOMS & VOID, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandeburg, Mitteldeutscher Rudfunk
- Producers: Regina Bouchehri, Gunnar Dedio, Uljana Kim, Sergei Loznitsa, Maria Choustova
- Format: DCP
- Color: B/W
- Production Country: Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands
- Production Year: 2022
- Duration: 110'
- Contact: ATOMS & VOID
- Awards/Distinctions: Silver Hugo for Best Documentary Feature – Chicago IFF 2022
Archival Producer: Manuel Heller
Sergei Loznitsa
Sergei Loznitsa was born in 1964 in Baranovichi, USSR (now Belarus), and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. A graduate of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Applied Mathematics (1987), he began his career as a researcher in artificial intelligence at the Kyiv Institute of Cybernetics before turning to cinema. In 1997, he graduated from the prestigious VGIK film school in Moscow. Since 1996, Loznitsa has directed over 25 acclaimed documentaries and several narrative features. His debut fiction film, My Joy (2010), premiered in Competition at Cannes, followed by In the Fog (2012), winner of the FIPRESCI Prize, and Donbass (2018), which earned him the Best Director Award in Un Certain Regard. His documentaries Babi Yar. Context and Mr. Landsbergis (both 2021) received major prizes at Cannes and IDFA, respectively. In 2013, he founded his production company Atoms & Void.
Filmography
2005 Blockade (doc)
2010 My Joy
2012 In the Fog
2014 Maidan (doc)
2016 Austerlitz (doc)
2017 A Gentle Creature
2018 Donbass
2019 State Funeral (doc)
2021 Babi Yar. Context (doc)
2021 Mr Landsbergis (doc)
2022 The Natural History of Destruction (doc)
2024 The Invasion (doc)
2025 Two Prosecutors
2010 My Joy
2012 In the Fog
2014 Maidan (doc)
2016 Austerlitz (doc)
2017 A Gentle Creature
2018 Donbass
2019 State Funeral (doc)
2021 Babi Yar. Context (doc)
2021 Mr Landsbergis (doc)
2022 The Natural History of Destruction (doc)
2024 The Invasion (doc)
2025 Two Prosecutors
