Queens of Joy

Eight short stories about love in Kyiv.

Whilst doing research on the Soviet-Afghan War, documentary filmmaker Maryna meets Vyacheslav, an ex-soldier with a unique archive of footage, notes, personal journals and photographs taken by now deceased members of his batallion during the conflict, causing them both to learn about confronting the past and overcoming the horrors of war in the wake of a new Russian agression now threatening Ukraine.

Documentary students are shooting a revealing film about the waste-dumping mafia. The local "Garbage Baron" understands that the film will show him in a bad light but it will also demonstrate his power and dominance on his territory.

The film is dedicated to the unique Dacha Center in Kyiv, which cares for children with cancer and their families. The film's protagonists are children, parents, and their guardian angels: employees of the Zaporuka Foundation, psychologists, and doctors.

"Cities and Their Heroes" is a documentary almanac collection of six documentary stories of ordinary people and six cities of wartime Ukraine - Bashtanka, Ivankiv, Mykolaiv, Okhtyrka, Kharkiv and Chernihiv. Its about the phenomenon of ordinary Ukrainian heroism, when people in dark times find the strength to do good deeds, help others under bombings, during occupation and wartime attacks. The characters of the film - a bodyguard, a TV presenter, a puppet theater actress, a mayor of a small town, a restaurateur and a composer - not only had the strength to survive, but also found a new way in life and helped those around them.

In the film of the project "Cities and Their Heroes" about the Ivankiv, Kyiv region, the hero is Hennadii Popenko, an actor and TV presenter until 2022. And having survived the occupation of Ivankov with his family, he became a soldier of territorial defense (aka Teroborona) and an active participant in community life. The film was shot as part of the "Cities and Their Heroes" project, dedicated to the courageous resistance of Ukrainians to armed Russian aggression, and which includes not only short documentaries, but also a number of articles and other materials.