In 2014, Alisa Kovalenko, a young, fragile student, went to eastern Ukraine with a camera in hand, where she was captured by separatists. The movie “Alice in the Land of War” was made about it. Since then, she has become a mother and filmed two more films.
Last spring, Alice put away her camera and went to war. At the moment, she has decided to take a break in order to bring to the world her latest film “We will not disappear”, which was shown at the international documentary film festival “Artdocfest/Riga” and received one of the awards.
The new film tells about the youth of Luhansk region, their lives and dreams. In the everyday life of these girls and boys, war is literally right around the corner. It has already become a regular part of the everyday landscape – something has been bombed, explosions are rumbling somewhere in the distance, and cars in protective colors are driving through puddles on country roads.
Some of the characters in your film have become refugees, some have stayed there, some have disappeared without a trace – that’s what it says in the end credits of the film. However, initially, during the filming of “We Will Not Disappear”, it was not expected that a full-scale invasion of Ukraine would begin. What was its first intention?
The starting point of my film was Valentin Shcherbachev’s social project for Donbas teenagers about the opportunity to go on an expedition to the Himalayas. At first, I wanted to film the preparation for the trip, however, the more time I spent with the characters of my film, the more I realized that the story is not about the Himalayas, but about the opportunity to dream and fight for the dream.
Despite the surrounding reality (there is a front line right next to them), these young people try to enjoy life, be happy and live – like any other teenagers. It was important for me to show this happy side, the ability of teenagers to be bright in a dark world. They were sure that they were on their way to happiness, but the Russian invasion ruined it all.
