Documentary · War

Peace and Tranquility

As Russian troops were crossing into Ukraine, Andrii Bondarenko wrote a play that looks back on a life bookended by conflict. Two weeks after Russia invaded his country, acclaimed playwright Bondarenko focused on the life he has lived. A peaceful childhood had followed bloodshed. And now, in adulthood, he faced the threat that previous generations of his family had witnessed. These thoughts took form in a one-act play, written in response to events as they were unfolding. To accompany this filmed version of the play, directors Myro Klochko and Anatoliy Tatarenko draws on photographs from Bondarenko's life, conjuring up the people who have populated it and, by extension, the people of Ukraine. The result is an act of artistic expression, of remembrance and, ultimately, of resistance.