“How are you?” might be the simplest way to open a chat, yet when spoken by two people in Kiev, it carries a weight that goes beyond politeness. Anna Eliseeva, a film and television producer, replies with a portrait of a city under pressure: emotions are mixed, every day different. Calm weather this winter is mirrored by better air defenses; electricity is steady, lights glow, and public life returns to cinemas, restaurants, schools. Yet the sirens remain a constant reminder that normalcy is fragile and earned one hour at a time.
Two years have passed since February 24, 2022, when routine abruptly vanished. In the early weeks of Russia’s invasion, the priority was survival. Then came the urge to tell stories. At the production house Film UA, conversations shifted toward human cases that demanded attention. Screenwriter and showrunner Anastasiia Lodkina describes the shift: people in crisis became the central heroes of the narrative, from a zoo in the Kiev region left without electricity and food to the ten people safeguarding two hundred animals. These stories surfaced as soon as Kiev emerged from the occupation and began to heal.
That impulse materialized into the spring 2023 release Ukraine: the rest, an anthology series produced for Movistar Plus+ that aired on Saturday, with episodes surveying the Ukrainian people, their hopes, and the motivations that sustained resistance during the darkest months when belief in victory wavered. Lodkina explains that the work seeks to capture lived experience, not fictional abstractions, and to mark a cultural record of resilience.
variable blur
Inspired by a friend’s story, Family unfolds as a devastating comedy that blends bitterness with sweetness, following a family determined to stay put even as bombs threaten their safety. As the family endures, the audience learns more about the characters and the subtle ties that bind them. The series also weaves in portraits of public figures such as Verka Serduchka and her daily live broadcast Star of the City, alongside intimate vignettes like a seven-year-old boy whose surgeon mother must explain war in simple terms through Mothers, and a homeless man who aspires to join a local advocacy group in Homeless.
Across scenes, the show shifts between humor and tragedy, raw honesty and hopeful resolve. The creative team wanted to avoid a single, monochrome tone. Lodkina emphasizes Ukraine’s unique superpower: humor. When the conflict began, despair could have swallowed hope, yet social networks quickly filled with memes that provided light and a reason to press on.
“What are we doing here?” becomes a refrain in scenes that confront painful truths, including the brutality of conflict as it is witnessed by ordinary people who carry extraordinary burdens. This framework invites viewers to bear witness while recognizing the everyday courage that sustains a community under siege.
Making a movie with difficulties
In assembling the creative team, directors and screenwriters were scouted among trusted colleagues and emerging talents. Artem Lytvinenko, known for At the Zoo, created The Sniffer, a series guiding audiences through Eastern Europe. Pavlo Ostrikov, the creator of Homeless, has earned recognition at Locarno and Odessa with his short films. Filming stretched over six weeks, a period that proved challenging. Eliseeva recalls the constraints: nighttime shoots, drone work, or filming without immediate access to an air raid shelter could not be accommodated. One day of shooting occurred at a shelter, and Moldova was briefly considered as a setting, though it would not have felt authentic. The decision to film in Kiev, and to capture the zoo and the very streets where events unfolded, was deemed essential. When night scenes were necessary, they could be refined in post-production.
For those interviewed, the aim is for the series to resonate across Europe. Lodkina stresses that, culturally and ideologically, Ukraine shares a close affinity with Europe rather than with Russia. The people are present in the conversation, and the cost of war—economic and human—remains very real. A sentiment echoed by Eliseeva: there is a danger that society will become inured to violence after a while. The producers insist that justice, love, and family can provide a counterpoint to fear, and that the stories presented are a call to remain engaged with what is just and humane.