Screening of the post-documentary film "My War and Me"

On Sunday, as part of the Ukrainian Film Club in Estonia / Ukraina kinoklubi Eestis, Kai Art Center hosted a screening of the post-documentary film "My War and Me" by director Roman Sadovskyi, who attended in person and presented his film!

Roman met the full-scale invasion in his native Kharkiv and spent more than two months in the Kharkiv metro, hiding from bombing and shelling. In his 10-episode post-documentary film "My War and Me" he tells the story of the first three weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine through Ukrainians' video diaries that recreate their experiences in different cities and circumstances – under shelling, in bomb shelters, under occupation and in forced emigration.

"This project is about war and about the person at the centre of war, so it is very human-centred. Each of us has our own story of the war, our own pain, our own tragedy, our own experience. I collected documentary and fictional sources. In the film you will see two diaries of two Ukrainian playwrights – one from Kharkiv and one from Kyiv. There is also Ukrainian poetry and conversations with actors, some of whom are my friends. All the actors, even though each played a role, have lived through the experience of war. So there is a fine line between acting and recreating real life. My project is very therapeutic – it hurts, but then it holds you tight, and by the end you feel calm and at peace. Of course it is hard to watch films about war and relive your pain again and again, but films like this help you let go and finish processing it so you can move on. Don't be afraid of pain – it has already happened to us anyway," the director said at the start of the screening.

Thank you to everyone who came to the screening. A reminder that the Ukrainian Film Club in Estonia invites everyone to the screening of "Zhytomyr Region in the Struggle: 1000 Days of the Great War" on 25 February at 19:00 at Kino Sõprus (Vana-Posti 8), marking the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 107th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia and the 2nd anniversary of the Ukrainian Film Club in Estonia!

We look forward to seeing you!