Rule of Two walls, a visceral portrait of today’s Ukraine through the lens of its artists directed by Film alum David Gutnik ’12, was released in theaters on August 16, 2024.
The film is an intimate look at the war in Ukraine, as seen through the eyes of Ukrainian artists who remain in their country to make art as a defiant act in the face of aggression. Using live music performance, painting, street art, and the act of filmmaking itself, it illuminates the war's psychological frontlines: how to go to a restaurant or bar amid the blare of air-raid alarms and missile strikes; how to process, react and resist, while having to go about your daily life. Blurring the lines between what is seen in front of and behind the camera, the film asks the question of what it means to make cinema in a time of war.
“Remarkable for its depiction of how people maintain their everyday lives knowing that at any moment they will be under attack,” Any Taubin wrote for Artforum, “Rule of Two Walls is unhesitant in showing both pleasure and pain.”
Stephanie Archer of Film Inquiry called the film "A visceral expression of the artistic need to survive and preserve."
In 2023, Gutnik received a Special Jury Mention in the Documentary Competition at Tribeca Film Festival for Rule of Two Walls. The jury praised the film for “embedding us with a group of artists who refused to be stripped of their heritage and cultural expression," awarding it a special mention for human rights and artistic expression.
David Gutnik is a Ukrainian-American filmmaker whose feature debut, Materna, won the awards for Best Cinematography and Best Actress at the 2020 Tribeca Festival. He was shortlisted for the “Someone to Watch” Award at the 2021 Independent Spirit Awards for his work on the film. Gutnik is also the editor of several feature films, including Christina Choe's 2018 Sundance award-winning Nancy. He is a Sundance Institute and Gotham Lab alum.
