Starlight Media

The documentary explores how ordinary tattoos have transformed into a manifesto of national identity and a symbol of resistance for Ukrainians during the war. Through candid stories from military personnel, paramedics, and civilians, the film reveals the true price of freedom of expression amidst the Russian invasion. For the occupiers, patriotic symbols on the body became a mark for torture, turning the fundamental human right to be oneself into a brutal choice between life and death.

In 2022, Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and, as a result, many Ukrainian celebrities refused any cooperation with their Russian colleagues. One of them was world renowned fencer Olga Kharlan, whose refusal to shake her Russian oponnent Anna Smirnova's hand took the entire world by storm.

The film tells the stories behind six photographs taken by Ukrainian and international photographers at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. These are the stories of images that traveled the world and shaped its perception of the war in Ukraine. The stories of people whose lives were changed by being captured in these frames. This is a manifesto of the power of photography - as evidence, memory, and a weapon of truth - and of the importance of those who risk their lives to make that truth visible.

Hard-hitting documentary following the day of a Ukrainian military funeral. The true cost of war is not about oil, or territory. It's about the loss of life, something that can never be replaced.