The Left Hander
Oleksandr Kononov lived his whole life in Donbas, in Severodonetsk, changing many professions. Once, as a result of an accident at a sawmill, he lost an arm and a leg. When the war in Ukraine started in 2014, he was a volunteer of the “Aidar” battalion, was captured by pro-russian rebels and spent about four months in prison. After being captured, he decided to realize his dream – he founded a goat farm in Zhytomyr region together with a companion. Everything was fine until a conflict occurred, as a result of which Oleksanr was forced to take some of the goats and move to a completely different place, starting the whole business from scratch. But new difficulties awaited him in a new place.
Will Oleksandr be able to fulfill his dream even under unfavorable conditions?
Documentary made as the study project in IndieLab filming laboratory.
One “Hope” for all
Constant communication, laughter, dancing, entertainment and lots of creativity. This is not a description of a party, but the components of the psycho-emotional support program for people with developmental disabilities at the “Hope” center in the Zhytomyr region.
The “Leleka” rehabilitation center, established in 2017 in the city of Popasna in the Luhansk region, helps implement the psycho-emotional support program. When a full-scale war began, the center’s specialists were forced to leave their hometown and eventually settled in the Zhytomyr region, resuming their extremely important social work.
Made for Caritas Spes
Fire and Water. How to Run a Farm in Wartime
Maryna* has been living with her husband in a village in the Kherson region for 23 years. They have two children. Their eldest son went abroad to work even before the war, and now their daughter Anna* is left with them.
After the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine and the village coming under the control of Russian troops, the family lived in the village for several months, after which they were evacuated to the territory controlled by Ukraine.
Because of the war, they have not been able to fully run their farm for several years.
Made for Save the Children Ukraine
War in Ukraine. To restore the school
One of the rural schools in the Kyiv region suffered greatly at the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine. All the windows and front doors were broken, as well as equipment crushed or stolen inside the building. Even now on the walls of the school you can see a lot of traces of shelling. At a certain point, the question of closing the school even arose, but the teachers said “we will work”.
Teachers, students and parents repaired this school and decided to organize video surveillance inside and outside of the building with a new fence to protect students. To do this, they created the so-called school safety committee, it identified the fence and video surveillance as the most important thing to do to protect the school.
Story made for Save the Children in Ukraine
Destruction of the Kakhovka HPP: the situation in the Kherson region 3 months after the tragedy
“It was scary when we saw the river rising. A meter-long wave was coming,” says Mariia*, a teacher from the Kherson region. Her family had to leave their house as it was damaged by flooding due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
Made for Save the ChildrenUkraine
Daughter should walk
“Her whole life is hospitals. Maria was born with a difficult diagnosis. Even before she was born, we knew that we would have a special child. Our daughter underwent many operations, but there was no significant improvement.
In 2023, after the last two surgeries, the pain that bothered her subsided. But the ability to walk did not return…” says Maria’s mother, Lesya. The family lives in the village of Potelychi near Rava Ruska in the Lviv region.
What gives them the strength to overcome life’s circumstances? What is Maria passionate about, what fuels her optimism?
Made for Caritas-Spes
“It’s very difficult without a father”
The story of Natalia, whose husband died in the shelling of Lviv.
In September 2023, during the attack of Russian “Shaheds” on Lviv, when warehouses with humanitarian aid were destroyed, Petro Burban died. It was his first working day…
At the beginning of the full-scale war, the man volunteered to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but as a father of many children, he was sent to serve at his place of residence. He was a volunteer, helping soldiers at the front. Shortly before the fatal day, he was discharged from the army.
The memory of him and the good that he gave, as well as human support and the desire to make her husband’s dreams come true, keep him alive today and give her strength, says his wife Natalia.
Made for Caritas-Spes
Families – to families
A documentary film with three stories of families from different regions of Ukraine, whose lives were completely changed by a full-scale war.
Made for Caritas-Spes
Three Years of Captivity for a Chornobyl Defender: Constant Beatings, Standing 16 Hours a Day, Eating Out of a Dog Bowl
47-year-old Yevgen Holin talks about his experience in captivity and Russia’s numerous violations of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Yevgen was captured on the first day of a full-scale war while defending the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. During his three years in captivity, he became 4 centimeters shorter and has problems with his legs due to constant standing in a cell. According to him, constant beatings and contemptuous treatment of prisoners of war, as well as lack of communication with relatives and poor medical care, were the norm in the places of detention where he was held.
His wife, Nataliia Diachuk, who also works at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, was waiting for him at home. She tells her story about the occupation of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the long attempts to find out at least some information about the captured Yevgen.
Made for Amnesty International in Ukraine