AFFECTING NEW UKRAINE FILM ‘A POEM FOR LITTLE PEOPLE’ MARKS INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE AT CPH:DOX

London, UK: Wednesday 20th March 2024 – Today Babylon’13 in co-production with Nuline Kopija (Lithuania), Roastbeef Productions (UK) and Autofiction Films (UK) are proud to announce that the feature documentary A POEM FOR LITTLE PEOPLE, directed by Ivan Sautkin will have its international premiere at CPH:DOX on 21st March. The film is a cinéma verité look at the most vulnerable caught up in the front lines of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the volunteers of an evacuation team, putting their lives on the line to save them.

Through its two parallel plotlines, the film follows the exploits of a volunteer evacuation team in the front lines of Eastern Ukraine, led by young, precociously stoic Anton, as well as the wartime daily lives and unlikely friendship of two elderly women – pragmatic Zinaida and dreamy, starry-eyed Taisia – who decided to stay at their homes in the now de-occupied Chernihiv region. While Anton faces the most visceral horrors of war on a daily basis during his team’s urgent, desperate attempts to rescue the most vulnerable, who are often reluctant or unwilling to leave, Zinaida and Taisia seek to pursue any forms of resistance within their power – from praying and writing poetry to hiding historic plaque and reporting intelligence to the Ukrainian military…

The film explores the complex dynamics of rescuing and preserving in the most trying of times – not only lives and physical land but faith, hope, memory, culture, one’s own humanity. As the plotlines ultimately interweave into a double helix, the line between the extraordinary self-sacrifices and at first glance futile, naïve, inconsiderable acts of resistance is blurred, inviting us to notice the indivisibly unified effort by the visible and invisible heroes in the making.

Director Ivan Sautkin said: “At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I, like most of my colleagues, was confused.  Everything I was doing until that moment lost its value. The world of war is radically different from everything we are used to. My first reaction was to mobilize and pick up a gun, but I made the rational decision to pick up my camera.  I started with a series of short documentaries.  With their help, I discovered a new reality for myself.

After the de-occupation of the north of Ukraine, I went to the village where my old friend Zinaida Lukyanenko lives. I was interested in how she survived the difficult times and learned that during the occupation she did not sit idly by but helped our military.  I was struck by the courage of this woman and it was from her story that my film began. I keep in touch with my characters in the film, we also became close friends. I try to help their mission as much as I can and in the future I plan to return to the frontline territory to work with them.This movie taught me many things. The most valuable experience is the ability to appreciate people regardless of their views and other things that distance us from each other.”

Producer Elena Saulich arrived in the UK nine months pregnant. She set up home in Margate with her mother (also Ukrainian) and has just celebrated the first birthday of her son, Marko. She said, “We are honoured to premiere our film at CPH:DOX. The film celebrates the courage and resilience of ordinary Ukrainians in the face of an unjust war, as civilians of all ages refuse to back down.”

Co-Producer Lisa Marie Russo said: “Ukrainians had their world turned upside down over night. ‘A Poem for Little People’ reflects on notions of home, and why we all need and deserve a safe space to live as a basic human right. The film connects audiences with this universal concept, and applauds Ukrainians as they continue to respond with creativity, grace and fortitude in unimaginable circumstances.”

The film is produced by Elena Saulich and Ringaile Leščinskienė. Co-producers are Arturas Jevdokimovas (Nuline Kopija), Mike Lerner (Roastbeef Productions) & Lisa Marie Russo (Autofiction Films) and is a Ukraine, Lithuania & United Kingdom co-production.

A POEM FOR LITTLE PEOPLE – CPH: DOX Screenings:

https://cphdox.dk/film/a-poem-for-little-people/

• Thursday 21 March, 16:45 – Empire Bio
• Saturday 23 March, 17:00 – Kunsthal Charlottenborg