‘Girl Away from Home’ about a young Ukrainian gymnast forced to flee Russia’s war, premieres in NL
"Girl Away from Home," a film directed by Denmark’s Simon Lereng Wilmont and Ukraine’s Alisa Kovalenko, premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam.
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The film tells the story of a 13-year-old girl named Nastya who flees the war. A talented rhythmic gymnast from Kyiv, Nastya and her team won a competition just weeks before Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine. After the invasion, Nastya is forced to flee with her grandmother to Germany, where she must rebuild her life.
This is Danish director Simon Lereng Wilmont's third documentary focusing on Ukrainian children, following "The Distant Barking of Dogs" (2017) and "A House Made of Splinters," which was nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Alisa Kovalenko is a Ukrainian documentary film director and member of the European Film Academy. She joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Army to defend her country in the face of Russian armed aggression. Her film "We Will Not Fade Away" premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival Berlinale in Feb. 2023. The film follows the incredible journey of five teenagers from the Donbas to the Himalayas.
The IDFA program also premiered "In the Rearview " by Polish director Maciek Hamela, that focuses on the evacuation of Ukrainians from war-torn regions in 2022 Hanna Badzak and Oleksandr Makhalkovich's "Motherland," which captures the 2020 protests in Minsk; and Ukraine's Oscar nominee “20 Days in Mariupol” by Mstyslav Chernov.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
