Painted Stories About the War

Camp Courage

October 2023 •English

Made refugees by the war in Ukraine, Olga and her granddaughter Milana travel to a summer camp in the Austrian Alps to test the limits of their own bravery, and to strengthen their growing bond.

Maidan

May 2014 •Ukrainian

A chronicle of the civil uprising against the regime of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych that took place in Kyiv in the winter of 2013/14. The film follows the progress of the revolution: from peaceful rallies, half a million strong in the Maidan square, to the bloody street battles between protesters and riot police.

Zelenskyy: Spirit of Ukraine

December 2023 •English

On February 24th, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has since killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed entire cities. Despite international appeals for Volodymyr Zelensky, and his family, to be evacuated to a safe location during the opening days of the invasion, the 44-year-old president stayed in Kyiv with his defence forces. It's hard to imagine how this bright, comedic, family man, has ended up in one of the most dangerous positions in the world, with a giant target on his back. 10 months on, and still fighting from the ground, Zelensky has been named TIME Person of the Year 2022. With comparisons to Winston Churchill, as a war time leader, his impact is undeniable. Utilising his acting skills he is embodying everything it means to have the spirit of Ukraine.

The Hamlet Syndrome

August 2022 •German

Five young Ukrainians discuss life following the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Not all fought in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it, regardless, shattered their life plans. Representing 'Generation Maidan', they face the question of how to cope with experiences of violence, how to go on. A local theatre director produces Hamlet, wherein they can use Shakespeare’s tragic character as a mirror and face their traumas onstage. For them, 'to be or not to be' is not simply text but an existential dilemma with no clear answer.

Speciale Lucca Comics

November 2017 •Italian

Crumb

September 1994 •English

This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through interviews with his mother, two brothers, wife, ex-wife and ex-girlfriends, as well as selections from his vast quantity of graphic art, we are treated to a darkly comic ride through one man's subconscious mind.

We Will Not Fade Away

February 2023 •Ukrainian

For five teenagers living in the conflict-ridden Donbas region of Ukraine, a Himalayan expedition provides a brief escape from reality. A portrait of a generation that, in spite of everything, is able to recognise and celebrate the fragile beauty of life.

King Lear: How We Looked for Love During the War

May 2023 •Ukrainian

Due to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Ukrainians, fleeing the war, found refuge in Uzhhorod in western Ukraine. The local director decides to attract non-professional actors -displaced people - in bringing his dream into life - to stage the King Lear play. The theatrical performance helps them find themselves and their purpose in a new world where there is war, and the director finds an answer to the eternal question of what love is and why this world should not perish.

Evacuation

March 2021 •Ukrainian

In 2014, the war begins. Immediately, a system of evacuation of the wounded and killed is being built, the outpost of which is the Dnieper - it is here that the first will be delivered, it is here that they are still received. Tatiana Guba has been coordinating the evacuation for 5 years. She is called "Mom Tanya". Thousands of people are grateful to her for her life. Serhiy Kryvorotchenko, director of the Dnipro Airport, has deployed a helicopter evacuation system since the beginning of the war. Eugene Titarenko, the film's director, in 2014-2015 was part of a volunteer medical battalion, communicates with the heroes of the film about the evacuation system. The viewer will see the whole way of saving lives, will be directly in the vortex of events and will understand how many people are involved in the process of saving one person.

20 Days in Mariupol

July 2023 •English

As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.

The Hardest Hour

February 2024 •Ukrainian

The unique testimony of the tragic events and crimes of russia through the eyes of Ukrainians, which the entire world must see and feel. Film was created from 200 hours of chronicles: survival, resistance, and life during the war. Every minute was filmed by Ukrainians with their mobile phones. Each story in the documentary is a film captured and filmed by Ukrainians on their devices.

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

September 2015 •English

Over 93 days in Ukraine, what started as peaceful student demonstrations became a violent revolution and full-fledged civil rights movement.

Eastern Front

April 2023 •Ukrainian

On February 24, 2022, Yevhen, together with his friends, volunteered to join the first aid squad on the front line. They provided life-saving support and evacuation of the wounded. This film reveals the experiences of these young men for six months full of drama, despair, fear, hatred, bitterness, love, and, most importantly, faith in victory.

Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine

February 2017 •English

BREAKING POINT: The War for Democracy in Ukraine looks at people transformed by a democratic revolution, who give up their normal lives to fight a Russian invasion, in a war which has killed 10,000 and displaced 1.9 million Ukrainians.

We Are Home

September 2024 •Ukrainian

As war ravages their homeland, Ukrainian children flee their homes out of fear. Across the country, young lives are uprooted and transformed overnight. But even amidst devastating loss, the children's resilience and optimism shine through. The original version of the film was 15 minutes long, and it was the one that had the initial festival distribution and screenings. Then, for the release of the film on VOD, the running time was increased to 52 minutes.

Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World

February 2024 •English

New York City's beloved Ukrainian restaurant Veselka is best known for its borscht and varenyky, but it has become a beacon of hope for Ukraine. As the second-generation owner Tom Birchard reluctantly retires after 54 years, his son Jason faces the pressures of stepping into his father’s shoes as the war in Ukraine impacts his family and staff.

Slava Ukraini

February 2023 •French

One year after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy takes us to the heart of the combat through this war diary made during the second half of 2022. From Kharkiv and Bakhmut to Kherson, in the aftermath of the city’s liberation, this documentary bears witness to the ravages of war through the testimonies of soldiers, chronicles of the front and portraits of civilians, and shares with us the struggle of the Ukrainian people.

In the Rearview

November 2023 •Polish

A Polish vehicle traverses the roads of Ukraine. On board, people are evacuated following the Russian invasion. This van becomes a fragile and transitory refuge, a zone of confidences and confessions of exiles who have only one objective, to escape the war.

Fugue

June 2023 •English

A man hikes through late-winter woods. Russia invades Ukraine. It’s difficult to reconcile the scales of action described by those sentences, but this difficulty is what John Gianvito dwells on in his new video. It may simply be that this is a diary, movingly plain and provisional in construction, which recounts what its author did for a few months last year: he watched a war on the internet and went outside. Even if that’s true, such a description makes Gianvito’s images seem less strange than they are

Smoke of the Fire

July 2023 •Portuguese

There are things that are indescribable and unspeakable when the disasters that affect our lives are beyond comprehension. Certain fundamental experiences seem irreducible to any form of expression. So how do we convey their intensity? How do we put them into words? Here, we’re talking about the war inflicted on the Ukrainians for over a year. Daryna Mamaisur is Ukrainian and currently lives in Portugal. O Fumo do Fogo, somewhere between a film diary and an essay, sketches with admirable reserve a path towards the possibility of communicating.