A version of this story about “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” and director Evgeny Afineevsky first appeared in the Guild & Critics Awards/Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Eight years ago, Evgeny Afineevsky made the Oscar-nominated doc “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” during the 2014 protests that ousted the country’s pro-Russian president. But Russia annexed Crimea shortly after those events, paving the way for its 2022 invasion and for this follow-up film.
Did you start this film immediately after the Russian invasion in February?
In the first days of the invasion, I called all my friends who’d been a part of “Winter on Fire”. There was complete disbelief, even on the 24th when it all started, that something like this was happening in today’s world. To bomb every civilian point in Ukraine, out of nowhere? It was a shock. But by the second day, I knew we needed to document it, and I had the ability to tell the story because I have my team there. And I felt that if we close our eyes again on the crimes, and the Russian leadership goes unpunished, then who knows what is next? We have one foot already towards World War III.
You live in Los Angeles and you’re the single father of a 1-year-old boy. Did you travel to Ukraine?
I went to Ukraine three times because it was important to meet my characters, to spend time, learn about them and have deep conversations. The problem is that the conflict was unfolding, and nobody knew what would be going on tomorrow.
I would not be allowed to go into Russian territory — that would be a one-way trip for me. But my track record in Ukraine gave me the ability to film from the first days I got there. When I filmed Maidan (for “Winter on Fire”), you did not need permits, you just needed a press badge. This time you needed permits and you needed to have protective gear, which I brought with me from Hollywood. It was an interesting journey. (Laughs)
To begin shooting in late February and have the movie premiere at the end of August, you
must have moved quickly.
As soon as I brought footage back from my first trip in March, we started to translate it and work with it. By May we already had another two editors, and by June we had eight editors. With me, it was nine editors working daily. We had five editors in Ukraine, two editors in Europe, two editors here. And that allowed us to edit a movie in three months. The first cut was three and a half hours and we ended at less than two hours.
In the midst of this horrific war, you found moments of real beauty and humanity.
I was looking for something with the great spirit of the Ukrainian people. I wanted to start with something we are not used to seeing, and I decided to start with standup comedy in the bomb shelter, with the comedian amplifying the spirit of the people and joking about the stupidity that this war brings.
Same with the kids. One of these days I will probably post the complete story of these kids. They’re talking about their dreams, about this war and how they wish that tomorrow in the news, Putin would be dead. I was looking for moments of humanity and moments of spirit. You come out of a war zone and people are playing guitars, which is not something you will see on TV.
There was an urgency to finish the film, but it also feels as if you feel a real urgency to get it seen.
Yes, we need to educate the world. When I made “Cries From Syria,” I saw the media cycle. Syria was all over the news, and then it all went down. I predicted this situation at the beginning of the year, thinking that Ukraine will be in the news and then it will go down also. We are finding that the world kind of forgot about Ukraine, forgot about conflict and allowed Putin to go way, way beyond what happened in 2014.
We can use the camera as a weapon and show this to the world. For myself as a filmmaker, for myself as a dad, for my friends, I want them to understand the situation in Ukraine.
Read more from the Guild & Critics Awards/Documentaries issue here.
