Denmark / Finland / Sweden / Ukraine 2022, 86 min, Russian and Ukrainian, Hebrew & English subtitles

When the children at this halfway house in eastern Ukraine goof around, laugh, and exchange stories about life in the homes they were removed from, it seems like they’re telling blood-chilling tales of horror, sharing ghost stories around a campfire. But these were their real lives with families that fell apart under the ever-present threat only recently called by its true name: war. Filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont (director of the Oscar-nominated film The Distant Barking of Dogs) takes us into the worlds of children with dysfunctional parents, temporarily sheltered at the halfway house until they find a new home, if ever. This intimate, heartwarming film manages to show the complicated existence of Eva, Sasha, Kolya, and their friends—who oscillate between childhood games, dreams, fantasies and infatuations, and a reality that forces them to grow up far too quickly.

Previous Festivals: Sundance, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, CPH:DOX

Buy Tickets
Screening Schedule:
  • Thu 26.05 | 16:45 | Cinematheque 1
  • Wed 01.06 | 12:15 | Cinematheque 1
  • Watch Online | The film will be available From May 26th until June 5th

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Simon graduated as
 a Documentary Film Director from The National Film School of Denmark in 2009. His first feature documentary film The Distant Barking of Dogs (2017) premiered at IDFA (2017) and was awarded Best First Appearance. It has since then won 35+ awards worldwide, among these it won the McBaine Documentary Feature Award at San Francisco’s SFFILM Festival, was nominated for a European Film Award (EFA 2018), an Emmy (2020), and shortlisted for an Oscar (2019). The film also won a Peabody Award (2020).
As a director, his films also include Dormitory Master (2009), Above Ground, Beneath the Sky (2008), Chikara - The Sumo Wrestler’s Son (2013) and The Fencing Champion (2014).

Production: Monica Hellström
Editing: Michael Aaglund
Cinematography: Simon Lereng Wilmont
Sound Design: Peter Albrechtsen, Heikki Kossi, Pietu Korhorhonen, Sune Kaarsberg, MPSE
Music: Uno Helmersson

Source: Lev Cinemas

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