Directing
Nina, 30, a Ukrainian language teacher who can't leave the city of Luhansk, occupied by separatists in Eastern Ukraine, is forced to undergo retraining courses for teaching Russian. Andrii, 17, is a student who was orphaned in the aftermath of the war. They cross paths when Nina witnesses Andrii being arrested by the police after hanging the Ukrainian flag from the roof of his school. Nina knows that because they live in a world of injustice and lies Andrii can stay in jail for a long time, and she risks her life to free him. As they gravitate towards each other, they try to remind people in the occupied territories that they deserve a future, too.
When Ruslana floods her Munich flat, Vladan, a former Boxer from Serbia, comes to her rescue. It is the night when Ruslana's son Bogdan should finally come from Kyiv. He rather falls in love with the spoiled pop-starlet Maria, for whom he is working. Both, however, are depending on Maria's rich patron Jora. The same night in Belgrade Vladan's son Zoran meets Jelena. But she intends to leave her homeland the next day, forever. Three cities. Three Love-Stories. One night in Europe.
What stands behind the Black Square, painted in 1915 by the obsessive artist Kazymyr Malevych? For his competitors, a fraud, for the Soviet regime, a secret code, for one woman, a love letter, for the people of Ukraine – a prophecy…
Set against the backdrop of war-torn Ukraine, “VONA” a feature length documentary, exposes a jarring reality: nature has become a new battleground. With meticulous strategy, Russian forces exploit AIR, WATER, SOIL and RADIATION. Weaponizing these elements to wreak havoc. The film delves into four distinct lives, weaving a narrative that unveils the perilous fight for our planet’s future. Through the lens of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, “VONA” unearths the ecological toll of war while offering a ray of hope, spotlighting pathways to mend our wounded Earth.
