Synopsis
Director: Simon Lereng Wilmont
Producer: Monica Hellström
87 min. Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine. 2022
In the Eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk lies an almost magical safe haven for kids—an orphanage where nurturing and strong-willed social workers take care of children whose futures remain uncertain. With profound compassion and beautiful camerawork, filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont, director of 2017’s Oscar-shortlisted The Distant Barking of Dogs (Doc10 2019), follows four youngsters—Sasha, Eva, Kolya, and Alina—whose gleaming smiles, dance routines, and rebellious streaks are charming and captivating, and yet their stories also poignantly reveal the human costs of war. Winner of a Best Directing Award at Sundance, this “exquisitely intimate” (Variety) and “astonishing” (The Hollywood Reporter) film is “a heartbreaking tapestry that also glows with empathy and shows glimmers of mischief and delight” (New York Times).