Commemorating An Existential Struggle

Memorial Day is just another day off us. We spend with family and take some well-deserved time off. The holiday is one where we pay tribute to fallen soldiers in spirit. But here in America, outside of military families, there’s little to no cause for somber reflection.

But this year, the occasion brings a different sentiment for me personally. I’m currently still working on the edit for UKR- a documentary showcasing the efforts of everyday Ukrainians to not only support their soldiers.

But to maintain their very existence.

A FORGOTTEN CONFLICT

With the destruction in Gaza, we’ve forgotten about the loss of life in Ukraine. And it’s easy for us to do so when we’re so far away. It seems so inconsequential. We always make the mistake of thinking.

How could something so far away ever affect us?

Using history as a guide, when war breaks out in this part of the world. The ripple effects are felt far and wide. In some ways that way don’t even realize until years later. But beyond that, there’s something everyone needs to remember:

We cannot simply push death and destruction to the side.

And working on this documentary. Each edit session forces you to confront things others get to push aside.

A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY

Every documentary you edit comes with a sense of responsibility. You’re trying to showcase someone’s story honestly. However, a film like this one comes with an extra sense of responsibility.

Part of the Russian propaganda is that this country is just a lost part of Russia. Its people and culture don’t exist and are inherently irredeemable. The nations desire for self-governance and direction are just part of a corruption brought upon by the West. And we should turn a blind eye to anything that’s happening there. Because nothing can be trusted.

But in forming this story, I’ve seen the reality of what’s happening. It doesn’t come in the form of troop movements , battle strategies or even bodies on the ground. It from the small details you wouldn’t normally pay attention to.

It’s the apartment buildings, homes and grocery stores flattened by barrages of rockets. The burned and bullet-ridden cars piled on top of each other. The looks in the eyes of its residents whose homes have been lost. Their previous lives erased in a flash of fire and smoke. Leaving them only with a look of loss and directionless.

It’s the same look I imagine my grandmother had when she too, fled Russian tanks pouring her home country of Latvia. A country that she never had a chance to return to. That only served as a painful memory of what she had lost. And created a rise of hatred for anything Russian.

Editing this film, it’s that sense of pain but also determination that I’m tasked with bringing forward.

BEATEN DOWN BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Each minute of this film serves as a testament to the existence of the people of Ukraine. To the reality that they will never give up in the face of real tyranny. Tyranny that we here in America will hopefully never see. But maintain exists all the same.

Films like this have a challenge of being brought into the world. Its subject matter is one that most here would rather forget. We’d rather not see what people are capable of doing to each other.

But they are important all the same.

Film is not just a lesson for life or an escape from reality. It is also witness to moments in time. No moment is more important than commemorating the will of a nation’s people to exist. To not give up in spite of incredible odds. And show the world what love really means.

Every action they take is to support the war. But it’s all done in the name of love. Love for their people, their family, and the possibility of creating their own destiny. The same things our own soldiers sacrificed their own lives for.

It makes this Memorial Day a little different for me. It’s part of the past, present, foreign and local all coming together in a moment of reflection. It’s a reaffirmation of the task ahead:

To do all I can to make sure their story lives on.

If you want to know more about the film. Please visit the website. There are ways to keep up to date with its progress and also support.