English Lessons

The online English lesson. There are six windows in Zoom, including a female teacher and five children of different genders and ages. Everyone has their cameras on, allowing the teacher to see the children’s faces and the background in their rooms. The topic "My home city/town/village". The proposed topic confuses pupils. Immersed in their memories, children come back to their native places, to their friends and relatives, to their favourite streets and playgrounds, to happy moments in their lives that were interrupted and corrupted by the brutal Russian full-scale invasion. Carefully speaking in English, they recall poignant memories: Katia reminisces her Kharkiv birthday, Maksym recalls his near loss on the war-torn roads, Nina recalls driving lessons in Kherson, and Zhenia seeks solace in Mariupol. The last microphone is unmuted. The look of Margaryta’s blue eyes radiates both sadness and hope. What’s the story behind it? The girl starts to talk. The online English lesson continues.

Director’s statement
The core of our project is the children's point of view on the events that happened to them and around them during the war. Using animation inspired by real events and actual children's stories, we will talk about the experiences and challenges that the Ukrainian nation faced as a result of an attack by the aggressor country. When creating animation, we will use a unique visual style based on children's drawings. Such a visual approach will help us to effectively convey the reality of children during the war and ensure the maximum veracity of the story.
We will introduce war chronicles into the film, archival footage appearing in various places and interrupting the animated flow of film with their reality. Archiving footage that repeats the significant events of the Russian-Ukrainian war will enhance the experience of watching the animation. It will remind the audience worldwide that everything that happens on the screen is not fiction but the reality in which Ukrainians have to live.