内容摘要：Although the movie was ultimately filmed in Louisiana, he visited Clarksdale to do extensive research.

Although the movie was ultimately filmed in Louisiana, he visited Clarksdale to do extensive research.

Some 200km (125 miles) along the coast of the sea of Azov, and much closer to the Russian border, the city of Mariupol feels as if it has been "cut off" from the outside world, according to Pavlo.This key port and hub of Ukraine's steel industry was captured after a devastating siege and bombardment that lasted almost three months in 2022.

Russian citizenship is now obligatory if you want to work or study or have an urgent medical help, Pavlo says."If someone's child, let's say, refuses to sing the Russian anthem at school in the morning, the FSB [Russia's security service] will visit their parents, they will be 'pencilled in' and then anything can happen."Pavlo survived the siege despite being shot six times, including to his head.

Now that he has recuperated, he feels he cannot leave because of elderly relatives."Most of those who stayed in Mariupol or returned, did so to help their elderly parents or their sick grandparents, or because of their flat," he tells me over the phone after midnight so no-one will overhear.

The biggest preoccupation in Mariupol is holding on to your home, as most of the property damaged in the Russian bombardment has been demolished, and the cost of living and unemployment has surged.

"I'd say 95% of all talk in the city is about property: how to claim it back, how to sell it. You'll hear people talk about it while queuing to buy some bread, on your way to a chemist, in the food market, everywhere," he says."In a very sort of shallow aesthetic way, for me it's a natural thing to walk into a space and look around to see what the demographic is," she said.

"It's not very often that I look around and see hijabis in literary spaces, put it that way, and it's been lovely."She said children were genuinely excited about writing a poem during one of her on-site events.

"If kids are still excited about books, then there's hope," she said."There's hope for that curiosity that we need to drive forward any kinds of progress and kindness in this world."