The Natural History of Destruction

“The devastation of WWII urban bombing campaigns is meticulously yet remotely evoked in the Ukrainian director’s latest historical deep dive” (Jessica Kiang, Variety). Inspired by W. G. Sebald’s essay and based on World War II archival footage, the film puts forward the question, Is it morally acceptable to use a civilian population as a means of war? Is it possible to justify mass destruction for the sake of higher “moral” ideals? The question remains as relevant today as it was eighty years ago, and its urgency is tragically manifested in current political events. With a score by Christiaan Verbeek.