Poem Review for Kids – Ukraine’s War with Russia Through the Eyes of an Emergency Evacuation Team | film

THere’s a scene in this Ukrainian documentary in which a woman rudely ignores an offer to evacuate from her property on the front line. Her son submitted a request to the volunteer humanitarian team that transports civilians to safety in the east of the country. But she’s taking care of her paralyzed brother, and the woman protests – what about her dachshund? As the explosions sound terrifyingly close, a volunteer patiently explains that his team will carry her brother to the pickup truck — and don’t worry, bring the dog. Eventually, the woman agreed to leave, and rudely wiped away her tears.

Director Ivan Sutkin is a filmmaker and worked as a volunteer on the evacuation team. “Ode to the Young” is his solo film. Sutkin is behind the camera recording everything. These are not interviews, explainers, or audio commentaries (which makes them difficult to follow at times). The leader of the volunteers is Anton, who is cold-headed under the fiercest fire. The trauma is harsh, and the situations are desperate – in one case, volunteers get an elderly woman out of harm’s way, but as they hit cracked, potholed roads, they wonder if they’re doing the right thing as they put her through the traumatic journey.

In the second part of the film, Sotkin visits two women – friends and neighbors, who live in an apartment building in a town near the Russian border. As the invaders enter Ukraine, Zinaida, an elegant woman in her eighties, spies through her net curtains, carefully noting the number of tanks entering, and feeding the information to the Ukrainian army. Upstairs, her friend Taisiya is writing poems criticizing the Russians. There are no little people here.