Alarmed by the Russian invasion, director Maciek Hamela bought a van and helped evacuate civilians. With his cameraperson (and driver), he captured the quotidian details of civilian life, and escape, during wartime in this intimate and heartbreaking documentary.
Born in Poland, Hamela was one of the first generation not forced to study the Russian language, though he took it on himself to learn the language anyway. He traveled to Ukraine in 2013, documenting the student-led Maidan revolution. That experience forged a special attachment to the country. When the full scale Russian invasion began in 2022, he took his van back to Ukraine to help, eventually building his convoy to three vehicles. With his camera capturing the small details of this anxious life, the havoc raging outside the cars, Hamela has crafted a subtle documentary unlike any war film you’ve ever seen.