Sergei Loznitsa’s 2014 documentary “Maidan: Uprising in Ukraine” is available on Kanopy. By now, I know the story of Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity from other material I’ve read, watched, and listened to since February 2014, but this film was still a worthwhile experience for me.

Instead of summarizing and analyzing events, it lets them unfold in front of a series of seemingly stationary cameras, with longer intervals from each perspective. This approach permitted me to experience the crowds and the individuals who comprised them viscerally. It made the power of contemporary Ukrainian patriotism palpable.

This force is not an ethnic solidarity but a civic one. It continues to frustrate Putin’s murderous ambitions, while demanding democratic accountability from Ukrainians' political leadership. It is what attracts so many to its cause.