НАШ ДІМ ГОРИТЬ

The ambiance is opulent, the camera pans dynamically through the crowd of guests, the apartment is packed, the mood is exuberant: Sofia is home. If only it weren't for Max, with whom she still has a score to settle. It doesn’t come to that however: the next day the bombs start falling, Putin's army invades the country, fear, agitation, and panic erupt. Should they pack their van and head west to Lviv? What is to happen with the elderly and those who are heavily pregnant? And with the leftover food that only yesterday was so delicious and tasted of the future? Stay here and defend the country, or leave to survive?

Art historian, theatre director, journalist, and film-maker Alice Biletska draws on her own experiences in this, her debut feature film. She graduated in directing from the American Film Institute in 2020 and currently lives in the USA. OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE was shot in Ukraine under wartime conditions. Regarding the shoot, she says:

“It was pretty intense. But to be honest it was more intense on the outside. The moment you go there and you start interviewing people in the bomb shelters and in the subways, you realize, ‘Oh, this is totally possible.’ Not only is it possible but it needs to be done right now because every crew member, every extra, every actor – everyone understands the importance of this being told right now in Ukraine.”

From the very beginning, an absorbingly told, deeply moving story about an everyday life that is no longer what it should be, about dreams that have evaporated – and about remaining human in spite of it all, surviving and trying to wrest dignity from even the most trying of circumstances.

Text: Bernd Buder

Wed 05.11. I 20:30 I WELTSPIEGEL SAAL 3 I original version with English and German subtitles