Donbass. Peaceful Life. Home On The Edge Of War (2026)

Set in the rural expanse of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, this evocative film tracks a senior resident who deliberately stayed behind through both the 2014 clashes and the 2022 escalation. As artillery echoes across the countryside, he dedicates his daily routine to preserving family burial plots, tending a vast potato plot, and hauling water by hand. Long accustomed to shelling and prolonged blackouts, he meets each disruption with steady composure, observing that entire civilizations thrived for ages before the widespread use of electric power. When mortar strikes spark neighborhood blazes, members of the BARS volunteer defense team arrive to contain the flames. Throughout this fractured landscape, the Gospel remains his sole steadfast companion. His intimate meditations on mortality, timelessness, and tranquility emerge from a lifetime of unyielding trials. Ultimately, the story illustrates how a soul anchored in quiet strength can cultivate a refuge of calm even when surrounded by wartime devastation.