Elwira Niewiera & Piotr Rosolowski | 2022 | Poland, Germany | 86’ | EN subs

A group of young Ukrainian actors, each with their own psychological scars carved by the war in Donbas, are cast in an experimental theatrical production of Hamlet. Under the sensible yet daring direction of theater maker Rosa Sarkisian, the protagonists grow into their roles, intertwining their dramatic performance with their traumatic processing. Like Hamlet, they face great existential dilemmas – “To live or not to live,” is Yaroslav’s twist on Hamlet’s soliloquy, while others like Oksana and Rodion focus on their present fight as feminists and LGBTQ activists. The filmmakers capture a powerful portrait of a generation facing their war trauma, which now after Russia's invasion of Ukraine becomes their present and future alike.