Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Aug 31, 2022

1h 55m

★ 9.3

Overview

Personal stories from civilians, children, soldiers, doctors, the country’s elderly, journalists, religious leaders, and international volunteers - a handful of the millions of people whose lives have been turned upside-down by nine years (and counting) of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Winter on Fire production

Diamond Docs

Donbas Frontliner

Donetsk Institute of Information

MakeMake

Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom Trailers

Cast

Self

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Self

Nataliia Nagorna

Self

Anna Zaitseva

Self

Stanislav Stovban

Self

Andriy Zelinskyy

New York City's beloved Ukrainian restaurant Veselka is best known for its borscht and varenyky, but it has become a beacon of hope for Ukraine. As the second-generation owner Tom Birchard reluctantly retires after 54 years, his son Jason faces the pressures of stepping into his father’s shoes as the war in Ukraine impacts his family and staff.

10.0

Iron Butterflies

Jul 20, 2023

This lesson in political revelation focuses on the shooting down of the Malaysian passenger jet MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. A meticulous, investigative exposé that lays bare the mechanisms of Russian warfare.

0.0

Seeing Through the Darkness

May 30, 2025

The film follows five people who lost their sight in armed conflicts, gathering fragments of their present-day lives. Through an enveloping sound composition, veiled archival material, footage shot by the protagonists themselves, and a sensitive visual approach, the film explores memory, perception, and our relationship to the visible. Steering away from spectacle, it invites us to hear what often goes unheard, and to feel differently. In an age saturated with images, this documentary offers a sensory experience where listening becomes a gesture of resistance and human reconnection.

8.0

In the Grip of Gazprom

Feb 7, 2023

The war in the Ukraine has changed the way many European countries view Russian politics. Suddenly it became clear how dependent countries had become on Russian gas imports for decades and what Vladimir Putin was up to. However, no country needs more gas than Germany. It was only after Russia's invasion of the Ukraine that the German government realized that Russia had long used gas as a weapon to impose its will on states. The instrument created for this purpose is the natural gas production company GAZPROM. So how did Germany become so dependent on Russian gas? The documentary shows how, over several decades and several changes of government, a broad alliance of politicians and business representatives did everything possible to secure Germany's energy supply with cheap Russian gas, while the Kremlin's foreign policy became increasingly aggressive and the warnings of experts went unheeded.

0.0

No Traces of Life

Mar 29, 2024

Building on Forensic Architecture’s previous investigation into herbicidal warfare and its effects on Palestinian farmers along the eastern perimeter of the occupied Gaza Strip, this investigation marks Land Day in Palestine by examining the systematic targeting of orchards and greenhouses by Israeli forces since October 2023. Our analysis reveals that this destruction is a widespread and deliberate act of ecocide that has exacerbated the ongoing catastrophic famine in Gaza and is part of a wider pattern of deliberately depriving Palestinians of critical resources for survival.

6.0

Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed

Nov 2, 2021

Benedict Arnold is not the villain of American history most people were taught to believe. New facts and never before presented material illuminate his heroic contributions to the American Revolution and explains his later change of allegiance.

0.0

Cultural Code of Ukraine: East

Feb 7, 2023

The project is set in eastern Ukraine, where the main characters live — representatives of different professions, who have chosen culture as the meaning and business of their lives. They are the creators and keepers of the national cultural code. The authors study what exactly is passed down from generation to generation, and what meanings are hidden in it.

6.9

Slava Ukraini

Feb 22, 2023

One year after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy takes us to the heart of the combat through this war diary made during the second half of 2022. From Kharkiv and Bakhmut to Kherson, in the aftermath of the city’s liberation, this documentary bears witness to the ravages of war through the testimonies of soldiers, chronicles of the front and portraits of civilians, and shares with us the struggle of the Ukrainian people.

0.0

Life to the Limit

Mar 16, 2023

From the Revolution of Dignity to full-scale war: successful Ukrainian film producers took up arms to defend the country and cameras to record the gruesome reality. From the fragments of memories and their own film archive, veterans Pavlo and Yurko assemble a mosaic of the causes and consequences of today's Russian-Ukrainian war - from the end of 2013 to today. The authors went to the front as volunteers, visited the hotspots of Donbas, created the home-made drone "Furia", which is now named after one of the best air reconnaissance units. And all this time they continued to create in order to show the world the truth about the terrible war that became possible in the 21st century.

0.0

Museums. Unoccupied

Feb 18, 2024

The story is not only about Ukrainian museums during a full-scale war, but about the survival of our culture in general. The occupiers are trying to destroy it and steal it, but thanks to museum workers, it is not only being protected, but also multiplied.

6.0

Painted Stories About the War

Jan 1, 2024

This is a story about the Ukrainian comic book industry. The authors introduce the audience to a still little-known and under-appreciated art form in Ukraine - drawn stories. Where did this art come from? When did it appear in our country? What forms did it take in the Soviet era and how did it change in the first years of independence?

0.0

Soft power. Move Europe

Apr 21, 2023

Director, choreographer, actress, singer – the usual professional roles for the heroines of this film stopped working at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Like millions of Ukrainian men and women, who were saving themselves and their loved ones and volunteering. Creative pursuits returned later, but now in a new dimension. Iryna, Olena, Oksana, and Maryna became the voices that tell the world about Ukrainians, their culture and their struggle for freedom. But how can one be heard in a world where Russian propaganda has been spread for centuries?

0.0

Shivtown

Mar 26, 2025

"Surrounded by dozens of soldiers like me, I was led by bus to a remote camp in the desert, a place I knew nothing about. As a military photographer, I collected fragments of moments in my photos, serving as solid evidence for me." Shivtown is the story of an ordinary soldier who, in an intimate and courageous act, revisits memories from his military service through the still images he captured with an analog camera.

0.0

How Did Your February 24 Begin?

Oct 28, 2022

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has changed the lives of every Ukrainian. Formerly bankers, IT workers, cultural figures and others have become military personnel and volunteers, people resisting the greatest threat to peaceful life in all of Europe.

0.0

My Father, Nour and I

Jun 1, 2023

After twenty years, Wiam Al Zabari starts a conversation with his father. Why did they flee from Iraq? Why was that never discussed? Will he be able to let go of the past and embrace a Dutch future?

0.0

Lightning Before Thunder

Mar 28, 2024

A short documentary about how "Fulton" the Ukrainian Football Club came together.

4.0

Voices in Wartime

Mar 4, 2004

Voices in Wartime is a 2004 documentary that explores the human experience of war through poetry. Combining interviews with soldiers, journalists, and historians, it reveals how war affects individuals and societies across time and place. The film features poets from around the world – from Homer and Wilfred Owen to Shoda Shinoe and modern writers in Iraq and Nigeria – showing how poetry expresses the pain, trauma, and truth of conflict. By linking verse with real-life accounts, Voices in Wartime highlights how poetry helps us understand the emotional and moral impact of war.

0.0

Alexeï Guerman, cinéaste bien interdit

Oct 1, 1990

This film was broadcast on La Sept in October 1990 as a part of Hélène Mochiri's Cinéma de poche program devoted to Soviet cinema. The documentary was produced in-house at La Sept and based on an exclusive interview with Alexei Guerman in May of that year. It has not been seen since.

0.0

Shadow of War

Mar 10, 2024

When Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine, Moldovans raced to the borders to assist refugees, offering warm food, rides, and shelter. At the same time, a group of Moldovan filmmakers formed an ad-hoc film collective to document the unwavering efforts of volunteers and the fate of refugees through multifaceted lenses. Despite these acts of solidarity, a segment of the population's Soviet nostalgia fuels a growing fear that the country could be drawn into the war.

8.0

20 Days in Mariupol

Jul 14, 2023

As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.

Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom Trailers