10 years of war: a film about human destinies against the backdrop of historical events was presented in Kyiv

On May 27, the Oscar Cinema in Kyiv hosted a pre-premiere screening of 10 Years of War.

Roman Ratushnyi, Svitlana Povaliaieva, Tyra, and Tetyana Chornovol are the protagonists of the new documentary created by Espresso TV channel with the support of Internews Network and the US Embassy in Ukraine.

The film was presented by the project team and partners who contributed to the production.

The film is aimed primarily at a foreign audience, but it is also planned to be shown in Ukraine, in particular on Espresso TV.

"The purpose of our film is to remind everyone in the world of what is happening in Ukraine, to evoke an emotional reaction and a desire to support Ukraine so that it can return to its original borders and the people of Ukraine can live in peace," commented the film's director, Oleg Garenchar.

He lives and works in the United States, but he has long been closely associated with Ukraine: he was at the origins of the Espresso TV channel and was present in our country during all the fateful events.

The stories of the protagonists – civic activist Roman Ratushnyi, his mother, poet and activist Svitlana Povaliaieva, politician and journalist Tetyana Chornovol, and paramedic Yulia Payevska (Taira) – are intertwined with key moments in Ukraine's recent history. The film explores the phenomenon of Ukrainian resistance from the first actions of the Revolution of Dignity to the active phase of the full-scale invasion: how the characters reacted to the Maidan and the war, how they manifested their civic position, how their lives changed against the backdrop of historical events.

"It's about human destinies in a historical context, because the last 10 years have been both the most difficult and the most important in the modern history of Ukraine," said Anastasia Ravva, the general producer of Espresso, at the film's presentation.

According to Mykola Kniazhytskyi, the founder of the Espresso TV channel, the idea of the film is to make Ukraine and our war understandable to foreigners. Therefore, the widest possible distribution abroad is planned.

The film was supported by the US Embassy in Ukraine. "A full-scale invasion is not just an attempt to destroy infrastructure and economy, it is an attempt to erase the rich history and unique culture of Ukraine, to destroy you as a people and a state. Together we honor the indomitable spirit of Ukraine. The United States is proud to have supported the production of this important film because Ukraine's story must be told," commented Megan Tetrick, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

Journalist and publicist Vitaliy Portnikov focused on the task of making our personal experiences become the personal experiences of people in the world that helps us fight. "The main thing we have to say to people in the civilized world is that our friends, our colleagues, our personal experiences and beliefs are worth defending," he summarized.