Patti Smith and the Ukraine war intertwine in Ferrara's Berlinale doc

Patti Smith's unmistakable voice reads out work by French avant-garde artist Antonin Artaud as on screen, the viewer follows a Ukrainian soldier through a point-of-view camera, appearing almost video game-like as he moves along a smoky field at dawn.

In "Turn in the Wound," long-time filmmaker Abel Ferrara intertwines clips of U.S. singer-poet Smith's performances in Paris with the testimonies of ordinary Ukrainians about Russia's invasion and grainy videos taken mid-battle by unnamed fighters. No one is introduced by name, not even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who sits down for a tightly shot interview with the camera team to praise the fortitude of Ukrainians.

"Freedom is not something global, it's something very close to (one's) person, to heart, to soul, freedom, to just have this possibility to wish and to choose," Zelenskiy tells the camera. Ferarra, known for "Bad Lieutenant" and "King of New York," himself sits down to be interviewed by a Ukrainian TV reporter for the film, chastising a stylist for fixing a hair out of place when there are grave matter like a war to be discussed.

"I'm an intuitive filmmaker," he tells the reporter, in a thick Bronx accent, to explain why he felt compelled to film in Ukraine. The film, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday night, coincided with a visit by Zelenskiy to Germany and France in a bid to secure their support as aid from the U.S. becomes less of a sure bet and Ukraine is at a critical point in the war against Russia as it nears its third year.

In a statement accompanying the film, Ferrara explains his film's ensemble: "When I see Patti Smith in her work, her life, the poet, the singer, the mother, or President Zelenskiy humbly governing, I become inspired, I want what they have, I want to be near them, learn from them, film them."

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