Sizzle Reel (Full-Length) [06:32]

Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is unconscionable. To expose the atrocities being enacted and the lies of the Russian propaganda, I traveled to Ukraine with my camera. Alone.

(I am a native L.A. filmmaker, but my ancestors come from Ukraine.)

Grateful that I had come to share their story to the world, the Ukrainian people welcomed me into their lives. Their soldiers protected me on the front lines and shared their limited resources to sleep and eat in their bomb shelters. I met and trained a tri-lingual (Ukrainian, Russian, English) journalist to assist me. Everyone I met seemed determined to support in their own way the desperate struggle to defend their homeland.

I am making a documentary film to reveal the terrible ongoing human crisis in Ukraine, and their urgent need for support.

After the three months of principal photography in Ukraine, I am proceeding to edit and finish the film in L.A. as quickly as possible. As the film takes shape, I will be posting short expressive excerpts to unveil what the film will soon become.

I am grateful to the many people who have generously volunteered their stories, expertise and resources to the creation of the film.

Sizzle Reel (Short) [01:35]

Marichka [01:03]

The people of Ukraine are fighting valiantly for their country, their culture, and their independence. Many of the men serve in the Army, but the rest of the population all seem determined to contribute to the struggle in whatever way they can. Ukraine has become a nation of volunteers.

One organization that embodies this spirit is SpivDiia, a humanitarian support foundation, headquartered in Lviv. Co-founded by Iryna Tuliakova, they attempt to meet the myriad desperate needs of people throughout Ukraine. Besides providing food, clothing and medicine, they created shelters for refugees, and enrolled doctors and psychologists to offer urgently needed treatment. SpivDiia ‘hubs’ are set up in each of the major regions. I visited the Volunteers of all ages are hired to run the operation.

They developed their own mobile app that all Ukrainians can use to make their specific needs known – where they live and what they need. The team then works hard to triage the requests to make sure the aid gets to the people with the greatest need.

Marichka is a volunteer in the Kyiv ‘hub’ of SpivDiia. She commutes daily by bus from her apartment in the suburbs to organize and sort the food and medicines that arrive by truck, and packages them into bags to be delivered by drivers to the people in need.

When I first met her working in the warehouse she was wearing a dark striped dress. The next day she dressed up for the interview in a traditional Ukrainian blouse.

Maksym [01:32]

Near the southern front in the Mykolaiv Oblast (Province) I spoke with Maksym, who founded the charity known as “Javelin”. His group does the dangerous work of traveling to at-risk towns at the front to distribute desperately needed aid and care.

Life of War [01:08]

The everyday reality the Ukrainian people experience while fighting for the survival of their unique culture.

Urgent Need [01:08]

As the Russian attacks on Ukraine continue to ravage the country, the urgent need for humanitarian and military support builds. This excerpt previews the upcoming documentary feature film “Will Ukraine Survive?”, directed by Marty Ollstein.