Alisa Kovalenko
Frontline
In the heart of the Ukrainian frontline, a mother, soldier, and filmmaker captures the fragile tranquility shattered by war, revealing a deeply personal and unseen side of conflict through her dual lens.
SYNOPSIS
FRONTLINE is a deeply personal documentary by Alisa Kovalenko, who combines her perspectives as a mother, soldier, and filmmaker. The film spans from early spring to summer 2022, capturing the routine, waiting, and sudden violence of life in the trenches. Through Alisa's camera, viewers experience the stark reality of the Ukrainian frontline, from the quiet moments of reflection to the chaos of missile strikes. Her letters to her son Theo provide an emotional core, exploring themes of love, legacy, and the personal cost of war. By focusing on her relationships with comrades and the inner turmoil of conflict, FRONTLINE offers a unique, intimate view of war that transcends traditional documentary storytelling.
DIRECTOR
Alisa Kovalenko
WRITERS
Alisa Kovalenko
Karolina Wajman
PRODUCER
Kasia Kuczynska
CO-PRODUCERS
Darya Bassel
Oleksandra Kravchenko
Monica Hellström
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Haka Films
CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY
Moon Man
Ström Pictures
COUNTRY
Poland
Ukraine
Denmark
GENRE
Documentary
Alisa Kovalenko
ALISA KOVALENKO is a Ukrainian award-winning documentary director from Kyiv. She grew up in Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, and studied at the Karpenko-Kary National University of Cinema in Kyiv and at the Andrzej Wajda School in Warsaw. Alisa’s debut documentary, ALISA IN WARLAND (2016), a personal diary through revolution and war in Ukraine, premiered at IDFA in 2015. HOME GAMES (2018), a social fairytale about a young Ukrainian female soccer player, appeared at Sheffield DocFest in 2018 and was again selected at IDFA. HOME GAMES (2018) has played at over 100 festivals and was the first Ukrainian creative documentary acquired by Netflix. In 2019, Alisa started filming a teenage adventure documentary set in war-torn Donbas. WE WILL NOT FADE AWAY (2023) had its world premiere at the Berlinale. To date, the film has won 15 international awards, including the Ukrainian Film Academy Award 2023 for best Ukrainian documentary, and it was selected for the European Film Awards 2023. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Alisa immediately joined a volunteer combat unit associated with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Alisa fought in the frontline trenches for months, where she captured footage for her current work-in-progress, FRONTLINE.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
The dramaturgical structure of the film will be built on two levels. The first level will be a chronological narrative with observations of the reality at the front, composed of a mosaic of events, actions, images, and atmospheres. The second, more poetic component, will immerse the audience in a deeper emotional and psychological level through my letters to my son Theo, which outline my feelings, experiences, and thoughts during my stay at the front. This film will resemble a poetic essay, constructed on a more sensual level, offering a vivid picture of real life on the frontline with a wide range of feelings and experiences. The core of the film will be based on my footage from the four months I spent at the front as a soldier of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army. The visual feature of the material is that it gives the feeling of being fully present in this space. The camera calmly captures the world around it, as if it is living this life there and observing what the eyes of the soldiers are watching.
Kasia Kuczynska
KASIA KUCZYNSKA is a Polish producer at HAKA Films in Warsaw. She graduated from Lodz Film School and Wajda School. Kasia has worked on international co-productions such as COMMUNION (2016), directed by Anna Zamecka, which went on to win the European Film Award for Best Documentary in 2017. HAKA Films’ first documentary, BOYLESQUE (2022) by Bogna Kowalczyk, premiered at Hot Docs, winning the Best International Filmmaker Award. HAKA Films co-produced Alisa Kovalenko’s latest feature-length documentary, WE WILL NOT FADE AWAY (2023). In 2023, the third documentary produced by Kasia, Sylwia Rosak's LILI, premiered at Santa Barbara IFF and will have its Polish premiere at Krakow Film Festival. Kasia was a part of Ji.hlava’s Emerging Producers 2023 program.
Production company profile
HAKA FILMS is one of the most dynamically developing and innovative film production houses in Poland. Haka Films focuses on the sustainable production of captivating feature films and series based on sophisticated, high-level scripts and deep, moving documentaries with flesh-and-blood characters.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
409.000.00 €
NEEDED FOR COMPLETION
155.000.00 €
TERRITORIES UNAVAILABLE
Poland
Denmark
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