The Ukrainian gala premiere of the film “Children on Fire” by Ukrainian director Yevgen Afineevsky, a semi-animated, semi-documentary film about the fate of Ukrainian children who have survived and are still experiencing war, which has already received five international awards, will take place on Thursday as part of the 16th Odessa International Film Festival at the Zhovten cinema in Kyiv.
At a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Thursday, the film’s authors, Afineevsky and producer Galina Sadomtseva-Nabaranchuk, said that the film is about eight children who were victims of Russian attacks, deportations, injuries, and imprisonment.
“The film is about eight young Ukrainians who witnessed the horrors of war at a young age. It is about their dreams, which were destroyed by the aggression of the Russian regime… The film shows not only their suffering, but also their strength of spirit and unshakable faith in the future, which they retain even after what they have been through. This is not a diary of horrors, but rather a tribute to the human spirit of children. The resilience, strength, and ability of Ukrainian children to overcome these tragedies and losses make each story a great inspiration for everyone,” the press release says.
The film’s world premiere took place on June 20 at the 33rd Raindance Film Festival, where the jury immediately awarded the film a special prize. At the 64th Monte Carlo Television Festival, the film received a special jury award and a special AMADE prize for supporting the organization’s core mission: protecting the most vulnerable children from violence, exploitation, and abuse.
To date, the film has received more than five different awards. It was also screened in the Directors’ Fortnight program at the Cannes Film Festival and before the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The press conference was also attended by Anna Machukh, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Film Academy and CEO of Odesa Intern, and Nobel Prize winner Oleksandra Matviychuk.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/press-conference/1109227.html
