Exploring Ukraine’s Underground Rave Revolution

The 2014 revolution brought Kiev nightlife to a complete standstill. As protests turned into riots, and government security forces opened fire on protestors, the country fell into crisis. But out of the ashes of revolution has risen a new generation. Slava Lepsheev, who’d lost his job because of the financial crisis triggered by the war, had had enough, and started Cxema, a raw, hard and hypnotic techno rave that he took to whatever semi-legal venue he could set a soundsystem up in. So together with Slava, and the city’s brightest young lights, we followed young Kiev as they prepared for a night at Cxema, from building the venue to watching the sunrise break. Director Tom Ivin Producer Kate Villevoye Local Fixer Lyuba Knorozok, Dmitry Kolchinsky Director of Photography Jack Reynolds Sound Denys Ryskal, Andrii Vaskovski, Viktor Savin Lighting Stanislav Bezpechnyi Production Assistant Andrii Bezliudnyi Editor Paul Frankl, Rebecca Gin Colourist Oisín O’Driscoll at The Mill Sound Mix Guy Chase Narrator Leala-Rain Shonaiya Script Clive Martin, Matthew Whitehouse Translations Yelena Kensborn Music Voin Uruwu feat. Valta - Hunters and Gatherers Voin Uruwu - Forest Theme Stanislav Tolkachev - Sometimes Everything Is Wrong Lollibou - Crimson Tune Wulffius - In the Pines’ Crowns (Wicked Bass Records 2016) Stanislav Tolkachev - Right Angle Voin Oruwu - A-mplification Archive courtesy of Vice News, Slava Lepsheev, Unkle Dee, Aleksey Olin Global Executive Producer Ravi Amaratunga Supervising Producer Eloise King Production Manager Lauran Clark Production Assistant Lily Rose Thomas Assistant Producer Stephen Isaac-Wilson Post Production Coordinator Regina Lemaire-Costa Commercial Creative Director Bunny Kinney Talent Producer Declan Higgins Head of Production Bree Horn Head of Post Production Daniel Elias Post Production Administrator Laura Davidson Special Thanks Slava Lepsheev, Dima Kovalyov, iZone, Anastasiia Fedorova Follow i-D: YouTube Twitter Facebook: Pinterest: Tumblr: Instagram: Soundcloud: More videos from the VICE network: