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Cannes Film Festival Hosts Exhibition Honoring Journalists Killed Covering Russia’s War in Ukraine
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An exhibition dedicated to photographers and documentary creators covering war and its human consequences under extreme conditions has opened at the Cannes Film Festival, according to the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers on May 20.
Titled Regards Célestes/Heavenly Photographers, the exhibition honors photojournalists and documentarians who have recorded Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and, in some cases, lost their lives while working in the field.
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The project centers on the work of French photojournalist Antoni Lallikan and Ukrainian photographer Heorhii Ivanchenko, who worked together in Ukraine documenting civilian life in frontline cities across the Donbas region.
Lallikan was killed in October 2025 during a Russian FPV drone strike, while Ivanchenko sustained severe injuries in the Donetsk region. The exhibition marks the first time their photographs have been presented together in a single space.
Organizers said Lallikan’s color photography focuses on individuals living through war, while Ivanchenko’s black-and-white landscapes portray the war through silence, absence, and traces of destruction.
The exhibition also includes the work of Ukrainian war documentarian Maks Levin, who was killed by Russian forces in the Kyiv region in spring 2022 while documenting the war.
“For the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, this exhibition carries special meaning. It reminds the world that photographers and documentarians create testimony without which the truth can be erased, distorted, or forgotten,” the association said in a statement.
Additionally, this year, Ukrainian filmmaker and journalist Mstyslav Chernov, president of the association, is serving as head of the jury for the festival’s Golden Eye award for best documentary film.
“In the context of the Regards Célestes exhibition, this is especially significant: the Ukrainian documentary voice is being heard in Cannes not only through cinema, but also through photography, memory, and testimony,” the association added.
The development comes as director Rostyslav Kyrpychenko’s film Vesna made its world premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival as part of the “Special Screenings” section.
The project is a co-production between Ukraine, Lithuania, and France, created by an international team of approximately 80 film industry professionals.
The screening at the Palais des Festivals was presented by Thierry Frémaux, who reiterated the festival’s ongoing support for Ukraine.
Members of the film’s cast and crew also participated in the traditional Cannes photo call. Ukrainian actress Anastasiia Pustovit, who plays one of the lead roles, appeared alongside Lithuanian actor Kęstutis Cicėnas, another leading performer in the film.
A day earlier, the Cannes Film Festival also saw the announcement of the international historical drama Foreign Bodies, dedicated to the life of Ukrainian-born scientist Waldemar Haffkine.
According to NV, the film will be directed by Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. The project explores Haffkine’s scientific career and discoveries, which are believed to have saved millions of lives worldwide.
Born in Odesa, Haffkine became one of the leading scientific figures of his era. His pioneering research into vaccines against cholera and plague at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries played a major role in combating deadly epidemics and established him as a key contributor to the development of modern vaccinology.
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