War's impact extends long past the headlines. It shapes love, erodes memory, and leaves scars embedded in landscape and body.
As February marks another year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, this collection turns to the human stories shaped by sustained conflict.
Each film brings its own lens - whether through letters, personal archive, or the eye of a photographer - offering a distinct way of seeing what remains.
Dear Beautiful Beloved
Volunteers evacuate Ukraine's most vulnerable - the elderly, the displaced, the dead
"Never exploitative... genuinely humbling"
This unflinching documentary follows three humanitarian operations running entirely on volunteer dedication: British aid workers evacuating disabled elderly from eastern Ukraine's war zone, refugee support networks guiding displaced families to safety, and body retrieval teams recovering fallen soldiers for burial.
The title comes from a mother's words over her son's corpse. Between these parallel stories of care and loss, the film reveals how ordinary people sustain intimacy and dignity when war reduces everything to numbers and dust.
Why watch:
- IMDb 8.4/10 - premiered at Locarno Film Festival's Critics' Week before IDFA 2024
- Rare focus on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure under sustained assault
Fragile Memory
450 rolls of forgotten film: A grandson races to preserve Soviet cinema's lost archive
"A personal tribute to a prolific Soviet film-maker"
Before Alzheimer's erased him entirely, renowned Soviet cinematographer Leonid Burlaka had shot over 30 features for Odessa Film Studio - including one of the most expensive Soviet films ever made. He worked with Vladimir Vysotsky and Joseph Brodsky during the Khrushchev Thaw.
His grandson Igor, a Ukrainian filmmaker, discovered 450 rolls of damaged photographs at the family dacha and raced to develop them before his grandfather's memory disappeared. The result: both family memoir and historical document, capturing Soviet cinema's golden age before it's lost forever.
Why watch:
- Won 7 Special Mentions internationally + Special Jury Prize at Sarajevo Film Festival
- Featured at IDFA, Sheffield DocFest, and DOK Leipzig
Signs of War
The MH17 photographer's decade-long chronicle from Crimea to the Donbas
"A textbook KGB operation on how to start a war"
Pierre Crom, a Dutch parliament photographer, quit his job to "document the results of political decisions rather than make propaganda for politicians." In February 2014, he flew to Crimea one day before Russia's annexation - and stayed for a decade.
From Sloviansk to the MH17 crash site (which earned him Dutch Photojournalist of the Year) to Debaltseve's tank battles, Crom witnessed key moments of Ukraine's descent into war. His photographs don't capture battlefields but aftermath - the physical and emotional traces conflict leaves behind. As a photographer, he was lucky. As a person, he faced violence beyond anything he imagined.
Why watch:
- IMDb 8.4/10 - Award-winning photojournalist with decade-long documentation
- Frighteningly prescient chronicle of events leading to 2022 invasion
These three films do not explain war, but they examine how people endure, remember, and keep caring when ordinary life is interrupted.
Explore more award-winning documentaries on iWonder.
For press inquiries, screeners, or interview requests, contact andreas@iwonder.com
