What to watch – on Ukraine…

This is not an exhaustive list of what to watch, but should get you started if you wanted to see some documentaries and films that give you a little more insight into Ukraine and the war currently being raged against it by Russia.

Recommended documentaries and links

To watch:

Forged in Fire – Chris Uhlmann

Captivating documentary that uncovers the profound connection between Australia and Ukraine during the ongoing war.

Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom. Director: Evgeny Afineevsky
This documentary follows the 2013–2014 Maidan Uprising, in Kyiv, via a chronological approach to key events via historic footage and testimonies

UPROOTED | An investigation into Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children. The Kyiv Independent
The Ukrainian government has identified over 19,500 Ukrainian children who have been forcibly deported to Russia.

“20 Days in Mariupol” Mstyslav Chernov
As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggles to continue their work documenting the war’s atrocities.
(currently this link only works in USA but hopefully will be screened soon in Australia) Watch: 20 Days in Mariupol   

“DNA. Portrait of a nation” (director – Volodymyr Rybas)
The authors of the tape tell what defines Ukrainians and what allows us to carry our national identity through the centuries. As part of the film, a large-scale genetic study was conducted in the world’s best laboratories. Both ordinary Ukrainians and famous personalities took part in it. In the second part of the project, the authors investigated the role of Ukrainian women in the formation of the nation. We recommend viewing both parts of the project.

“Golden September. Chronicle of Halychyna 1939–1941” (director – Taras Khymych)
After the signing of the “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” in September 1939, Soviet troops entered Western Ukraine and established their power there through repression. This documentary is dedicated to the history of life in Galicia on the eve and in the first years of the Second World War. The tape uses archival chronicles and interviews with eyewitnesses of those events.

Ukrainian. The Movie (director – Mykola Nosok)
The plot of the tape consists of 6 stories, which are combined into a single canvas. The heroes are not related to each other, but it is this difference that best reflects the diversity of the Ukrainian people. The film tells about the history and modern life of Ukraine.

“The Nightingale Sings” (director – Serhii Krymskyi)
Language is the history of a people, its worldview, it defines consciousness, creates a person and culture. The tape “The Nightingale Sings” is designed to tell every Ukrainian that language is a form of expression of national identity. The tape tells about the history of the Ukrainian language, refutes myths, and also analyzes the Ukrainian language issue based on the experience of other countries.

“Legacy of the Nation” (director – Oleksandr Tkachuk, author of the idea – Lesya Voronyuk)
Vyshyvanka is not only a material, but also a spiritual heritage of Ukrainians. The documentary film consists of 2 parts: the first part tells about the variety of ornaments, embroidery techniques and other regional features of shirt creation. The second part is the stories of people whose lives were changed by Vyshyvanka.

“In the rearview” Maciek Hamela
“In The Rearview” is a collection of stories that director Maciek Hamela recorded during his volunteer rescue expeditions to evacuate people from different regions in Ukraine to safety.

“A Rising Fury”Directed/produced by Lesya Kalynska and Ruslan Batytskyi
The film reveals the true untold story of how the Russo-Ukrainian war began in 2014.

“ A house made of splinters” Simon Lereng Wilmont.
The film follows the lives of children and the caregivers in an orphanage in Eastern Ukraine as the war in the region takes a heavy toll on families living nearby.

Intercepted
Destruction in Ukraine war shown through lengthy tableaux. Soldiers’ phone calls to families reveal parallel world. Sound and image confront one another.

Company of steel. Director: Yuliia Hontaruk
After enduring horrors during the War in the Eastern part of Ukraine (2015), three young Ukrainian war veterans return home, both stronger than before and full of scars.

Fearless (VI) . Director: Vyacheslav Bihun
A dashcam cinematic image of Ukrainians on the road.

Grey Bees (2024) Director: Dmytro Moiseiev
Only two of them left. In a small village cut off from electricity, in the ‘grey zone’ that formed in Donbas after the Russian invasion in 2014.

On Telegram:

Denys Davydov updates from Ukraine
United24
The Kyiv Independent