I am.
Maria holds her breath in the back of a car as a human rights activist talks to the Russian soldiers at the checkpoint. After he allows them through and the physical danger has passed, she still fears: after the months she’s spent abroad, separated from her parents and grandparents, will the friends and family she returns to still be the same people?
Victor gives a tour of his home in Irpin. To the left is the living room, and to the right, his bedroom. Both are identical piles of rubble, with no wall to separate them. But even without the roof and without his family, Victor knows this place is home. To the question: “what makes a home?” he answers with laughter: bellowing, pure, and defiant.
At eighteen, Alina is managing a multi-million dollar aid logistics operation, with the heavy knowledge that a slip in her performance could bottleneck the distribution of lifesaving medical tourniquets. She barely recalls the economic assignment she was hastily finishing on February 23, or any career aspirations she had before. Is trying to remember a selfish luxury?
How do you survive a war? I am. answers through voices of youth coming of age beneath artillery fire and air raids. Teenagers and young adults grown up too soon, they lead families fleeing invasion, defense units in urban combat, and grassroots nonprofits distributing critical supplies, all while grappling with the question of who they are: for themselves and for their nation.
I am. is a feature-length film for streaming services like Netflix. The footage includes 100+ interviews shot across Ukraine and Poland, in Bucha, Irpin, Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Warsaw. Our B-roll is shot in the same areas, and supplemented by found footage from our interviewees. We’re targeting the English-speaking international community broadly, where we aim to throw off Ukraine fatigue by sharing the stories of everyday Ukrainians rebuilding their homes, their livelihoods, and their identities amid a war that’s far from finished. Our team includes NATO- and ZSU-accredited journalists, and Ukrainian and American filmmakers out of Stanford, Princeton, and MIT.
Website: https://voumedia.org/
Pre-production: Marko Basarab (PhD, Civil Defense Forces, Lviv), Sasha Horokh (Director of Mriya, MIT), Daniel Wu (NATO- and ZSU-accredited, Stanford)
Creative Direction: Sofiia Shyroka (Theater, Ukraine Global Scholars, Kenyon), Erin Yoo (Princeton), Selena Zhang (Director of Momentum4Ukraine, MIT)
Outreach: Summer Xia (Communications, UCLA), Kate Stewart (Performing Artist, Princeton)
Post-Production: Myloslava Khomenko (MBA, Hult), Marina Rybak (Kharkiv State Design Academy), Irene Yoo
Producer: Selena Zhang (Director of Momentum4Ukraine, MIT)
This is a story of youth, for youth, by youth. One year ago, we worried about university exams and jobs after graduation. After February 24, we worried for our family and friends’ lives and struggled to build identity amidst so much destruction. This documentary is both a focused snapshot of the larger war and a diary of our conversations connecting with others our age. It’s an anthology of healing, told via the raw authenticity of late-night conversations and first visits to Starbucks, including the laughter, idealism, uncertainty, and stumbles of growing up.
A slice of the folks we’ve met along the journey, with thanks for their thoughts and feedback.
*the opinions in our documentary are purely from its creators and do not reflect the personal opinions or input of the folks below
Our story primarily follows the journey of several young folk, with context and messages of support from interviews with public figures such as Vitali Klitchko, Yevhen Klopotenko, and Yaroslav Hrytsak.
We’ve brainstormed storylines around specific themes (e.g. survivor’s guilt, coming home) and structures (e.g. thematic vs. chronological). Our current line takes a chronological structure that will take the audience from the day of the full-scale Russian invasion to the present day through the interview narratives. We plan to overlay alternating footage of b-roll (sourced from external sources as necessary) and interview videos over interview audio.
Our current arc starts with explanations of the initial emotional reaction to the day of the invasion featuring many different perspectives: parents, students, government and community leaders, and war effort leaders. This transitions into explanations of interviewee’s physical response to attack (i.e. taking up arms, communities coming together) which also blends into the major theme of Ukrainian identity and patriotism. During that chapter, we will focus specifically on how youth are reshaping Ukrainian identity with their sense of national pride and contributions to their country. Finally, the conclusion will leave the audience with a hopeful outlook on Ukrainian strength by featuring clips about family bonds and finding happiness, even during war, while reconciling with the trauma of warfare and death. We envision the concluding audio to be the final statement of all our interviews: “I am a citizen of Ukraine.”
Our footage inventory consists of interview clips from 30+ interviews, b-roll, and images. We would like feedback on the structure of the storyboard (e.g. cutting back and forth between b-roll and interview footage, splicing together multiple different interviews vs. following just a few stories more deeply) to tell all the stories of our interviewees in a personal way.