“Kind of Funny, but Not That Funny”

Acclaimed for her female-driven documentaries, Ukrainian Iryna Tsilyk turned her lens toward the male experience of war and becoming in Rock. Paper. Grenade (2022). In this profile and interview, Tsilyk discusses the nascence of national identity in post-Soviet Ukraine, musical ouroboroi, and the creative liberties she took while adapting Artem Chekh’s novel Who Are You? into her first filmic foray into fiction. At the heart of this film is Tsilyk’s commitment toevery generation of Ukrainian, including those that have served the Soviet state.