Art therapy, para-archery and summiting peaks: life on the front line against an enemy five times larger.

Lithuanian philosopher and director Nerijus Milerius returns to PÖFF with a fourth film. He volunteered to drive cars carrying medical aid to Ukraine’s front lines. Between August 2024 and June 2026, he documented his experiences on fifteen dangerous missions using his own equipment.

The film opens with a heartbreaking birth at an unnamed hospital. Milerius keeps his camera close to soldiers, teachers, doctors, children and even displaced animals. With a humanist eye, he shows Ukrainians adapting to survive and carry on amid loss and serious injuries, while capturing moments of happiness and stories of love. He records daily life under attack and hears dark humour in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Kherson and other bombed areas where he needed a fixer even to gain access.

He films recovering Azovstal defenders returning to the trenches and wounded soldiers learning to hike Mount Hoverla on prosthetic legs. From operating theatres and shelters to yoga sessions, hair salons and a veterans’ theatre, Milerius captures Ukrainians’ resilience and spirit.

Edvinas Pukšta