“In the rearview” – the war in Ukraine seen through the eyes of children and women
A small van traverses war-torn roads, picking up Ukrainians as they abandon their homes at the front. Shuttling them across the battered landscape into exile, the van becomes a fragile refuge, a zone for its passengers’ confidences[1].
Filmed in the back of his van as he takes families from Ukraine to Poland in early 2022, Maciek Hamila offers us a unique insight into the emotional trauma of war on normal everyday people. Passing through the flat and monotonous countryside, our film-maker driver occasionally asks his passengers where they are headed, but most of the time just listens.
Rock, Paper, Gun – the game the children the children play to pass the time – reminds us that the young victims of war are also just children, like our own – playful, curious and funny. Yet these children are also forced to confront a bewildering world of roadblocks, soldiers, destroyed homes and burnt-out cars.
While the children play, the parents (mainly women as their husbands have to stay to fight) start to speak. As they gaze out of the car window, talk of pets and farm animals is interspersed with monotone yet chilling descriptions of dead neighbours, husbands and parents. Often lost in their own worlds, they seem oblivious to the camera, almost as if they are talking to themselves. It feels like we are invited into their innermost thoughts, and this is a sobering experience.
Lake Aid film nights aim to open our eyes and ears to other perspectives and worlds. Through cinema, but also by meeting, in person, refugees and people affected by war. And so we heard from Natalia, a Ukrainian refugee living in a temporary shelter in Thones, a small mountain town in Haute-Savoie not far from Annecy. Natali read a beautiful text she had prepared, opening her heart about how difficult it is to live as a refugee in a foreign country.
“We have lost the ability to feel joy. This is especially felt when looking at the incredible nature here, the beautiful mountains and lakes”
“It’s very hard for everyone. Our lives have been shattered by the war, and many people have lost everything – loved ones, friends, homes, cities we cannot return to…there is a hole in our souls and although outwardly we look like ordinary people, inside we are sad invalids who have lost themselves and their lives.
On behalf of all Ukrainian refugees, I would like to thank Suzanne, Lake Aid and all of you for your activities and assistance; because you don’t pass by but you stop to help, especially the children. Now it is doubly difficult for them, because their parents, being in a despondent and depressed emotional state, simply cannot meet the needs of their children, organizing a normal life for them with childish joys. Therefore, you do a very good job – you support people and do not leave them completely abandoned, feeling left to the mercy of fate”.
We also heard from Agi Lejeune and Paul Depont, volunteers living in Bourg St. Maurice who organise aid deliveries to Ukraine, as well as helping to renovate destroyed homes and schools.
“There are usually about 6-10 air raid alerts a day in Kramatorsk, which is really disruptive especially for the children”
Paul explained: “ I’ve spent most of 2023 in Kramatorsk, Eastern Ukraine, doing volunteer work predominantly with a Ukrainian NGO called baseua.org. The main work was evacuating people from frontline communities and delivering aid, though we have started other projects such as renovating destroyed homes. We finally managed to open a children’s learning hub in Kramatorsk. Most of the 4000 children haven’t been to a school for nearly 4 years now, so it’s something we are very pleased to get open. It has been built and funded totally by volunteers and donations”.
Heartfelt thanks go to journalist Isabelle Kumar for presenting the evening and to the volunteers at Talloires Cinema for hosting. Thanks to everybody’s generosity we raised 275 euros for Lake Aid, which will go towards funding outings for Ukrainian refugees living in Thones.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27531514/
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