A Simple Soldier

Filmstill A Simple Soldier

A Simple Soldier

A Simple Soldier
Artem Ryzhykov, Juan Camilo Cruz
Panorama: Central and Eastern Europe
Documentary Film
Ukraine,
USA,
UK
2025
95 minutes
Ukrainian,
English,
Russian
Subtitles: 
English
German premiere

When the Russian invasion began on 24 February 2022, Artem Ryzhykov volunteered to join the Ukrainian army. Equipped with a machine gun and a camera, the filmmaker documents his life as a soldier. But soon it becomes obvious that imagination and reality are drifting apart. While at first exploding bombs shock him so much that he drops to the ground in the barricaded kitchen, and while burnt corpses of a defeated Russian military unit at the Irpin front line provide sensational images, euphoria and sensitivity gradually get lost on the battlefield. Ryzhykov slowly loses his observer’s perspective, the camera degenerates into a “toy” and is replaced by the weapon.
The war leaves traumatic marks. Ryzhykov is increasingly alienated from his own self and his private environment. The overwhelming emotional ballast is no longer easily catalysed, spaces for reflection shrink and the phone calls with his wife Irusya become colder and more tight-lipped. Co-director Juan Camilo Cruz has crafted a narrative strand of immediate power from more than one thousand hours of video material: an intimate insight into the life of a person who is trying to cope with all the chaos.


Philipp Hechtfisch

Contains mentions of war scenes, death

Contains depictions of war scenes

Photosensitivity warning: Contains flashes of light that may trigger seizures for people with visual sensitivities.

Screenings & Tickets DOK Leipzig Logo

28.10.
#234
CineStar 5
A Simple Soldier
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
28.10.2025
CineStar 5
#234
A Simple Soldier
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
Calendar
30.10.
DOK Stream 24h
A Simple Soldier
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
30.10.2025
DOK Stream 24h
A Simple Soldier
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
Calendar
01.11.
#682
UT Connewitz
A Simple Soldier
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
01.11.2025
UT Connewitz
#682
A Simple Soldier
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
Calendar

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Artem Ryzhykov, Juan Camilo Cruz
Script
Juan Camilo Cruz, Jesper Osmund
Cinematographer
Artem Ryzhykov, Ruslan Girin, Ruslan Girin
Editor
Jesper Osmund, Inés Boffi Sae-Ammac
Producer
Howard Owens, Ben Silverman, James Packer, John Battsek, Marcel Mettelsiefen
Sound Design
Andrés Velásquez
Score
Úlfur Hansson

Contact DOK Leipzig Logo

Main Contact
World Sales
Nominated for: Leipziger Ring, MDR Film Prize