The Donbass Children

Documentary, 60 min.

Bulgaria

Director: Lubomir Dankov

Film editor: Zina Nacheva

Operators: Tatyana Krylova and Lubomir Dankov

Sound: Nenko Milev

Translator: Elitsa Saksanova

The Donbass Children is a movie about the Donbas war, first-person stories. You will hear the stories of so-called “ordinary people”. These people suffered from irrational from a military point of view strikes on civilian targets. These people suffered from irrational from a military point of view strikes on civilian targets. They are victims of someone’s desire to wage war on their territory at all costs.

There are no author’s comments in this movie and no censoring of the thoughts of the local people. This film was made especially for spectators in Europe, who do not know what is happening in Eastern Ukraine.

The movie is the first and for now only part of a trilogy project that aims to cover all aspects of the Donbas war. This first movie does not examine the causes of the conflict or how to resolve it. The movie introduces people in Europe to a point of view that remains hidden to them – that of the war victims, of the people who did not want to take sides in the conflict but were forced into it.

The creators of the movie want to encourage the viewer to reflect on the responsibility each of us bears for pursuing peace in the Europe of today.

Terrorism has been one of the main themes in Europe in recent years. Any act of terror in Paris, Nice, Brussels, etc. was followed by anger and determination for an uncompromising fight against evil, both among European leaders and among the “regular” inhabitants of the continent. Every act of terrorism has become a central topic in the media for days.

And as people marched against terror and put the colors of another affected country on their pictures, terrorism caused the deaths of thousands in Eastern Ukraine. Yes, it is terrorism, because the deliberate killing of civilians is terrorism. But the “democratic world” did not talk about it, it is not talked about now. The media and the European leaders remained silent. Most people just didn’t know about this terror and they still don’t know.

The European Union has given € 15 billion to the Ukrainian authorities since the beginning of the conflict in 2014 until now. Does this mean that the European Union supports terrorism? Perhaps this movie will help you find the answer to this question.

The Donbass Children trailer: https://youtu.be/R-9KSOsR3y0

From early November 2019 to the end of January 2020, the movie received awards at the following film festivals:

American Golden Picture International Film Festival – USA

The American Film Award – USA

Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival – USA

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival – India

Crown Wood International Film Festival – India

Couch Film Festival – Canada

Zero Degree Film Contest – India

Beyond Earth Film Festival – India

Independent Shorts Awards – USA

Best Shorts Competition – USA

United States Film Festival – USA

2-nd Amazing Shorts! Film Festival – Spain

The Impact DOCS Awards – USA

Hollywood Hills Film Awards – USA