Slava: A film about one’s relationship with the war as an immigrant

When the war starts in her homeland, a young immigrant who lived more than half of her life in the UK, starts to question her self identity while desperately trying to navigate between the seemingly peaceful reality of her daily life and the consciousness of the war.

Hi, beautiful people!

My name is Roksana and I am the writer and director of "Slava".

Being a second-generation migrant myself, the screenplay came from a very personal place ( you can check the video if curious to find out a bit more about the creative process :D).

"Slava" is a film about a young Ukrainian woman in her 20's (named Slava :), who moved to England with her parents when she was still a preteen. Her whole life, Slava tried to fit in and assimilate, but the 24th of February, 2022 her comfy reality shattered into pieces.

"Slava" is a deeply personal one but also very universal story of any expat's trauma and survivor guilt when war is brought upon one's homeland.

The movie is about our relationship to the war via news and the disorientating experience, shared by many Ukrainian expats, of witnessing this tragic event through other people, as well as through the screen of our TVs and computers.

Inspired by Dogme 95 and its minimized aesthetic, the film follows The Vow of Chastity. And even though, the movement did not accept/recognize short films, we felt that this was the most right way to tell the story of "Slava".

Dogme films are using the visual style of non-fictional filmmaking borrowed from documentaries and especially television news programs. This visual style attracts the viewer's attention upon the importance of the main message. This visual style is also mirroring the societal experience of the war through the news programs and "vlogging". With the possibility of virtually witnessing even the events on the frontline and the battlefield (via soldiers' Tiktok videos, Instagram posts etc.), we walk away from the concept of romanticizing war and cinematic illusion.

And WE NEED YOUR HELP!:D

Making a movie involves an entire town of folks and the two of us alone can only do so much, so that's where you all—you lovely supporters and beautiful souls come in. In order to bring this story to life in the most ICONIC way we imagine and know it can be, we are inviting and seeking the support from our communities and everyone outside and in-between because we can't do it alone!

In order to pay our cast and crew for their time and hard work, locations, camera and sound, catering, covid-19 safety protocols, post-production --we need to raise £5,000.

So all contributions, small or big, are beyond appreciated! And if you can't monetarily support, no worries, because there are other ways you can help us out below! :)

Here are non-monetary ways you can help:

• Share our campaign with all your loved ones, friends, co-workers, your entire email contact list (jk and not :D) through text, facebook, IG, Twitter, Tik Tok, Youtube, email, etc.
• Spread the word in your day-to-day conversations.
• Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and here for updates!

Know someone who might want to privately invest, donate and learn more about the film? Or want a social media kit to help share this campaign? Please feel free to get in touch with us at: [email protected]

Thank you so much for making it this far, for all of your support. It truly means the universe!