drama series
Ukrainian film people give an insight into the emotional state
Zara (Alina Sokhna, l) and Olja (Valeriia Berezovska) celebrate with their roommates Oljas and Petjas wedding in a scene of the ZDF project “Himmel & Erde”. photo
© Nataliia Khalan/ZDF/dpa
What the headlines about the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine convey only to a limited extent are the concerns and fears of the people. ZDFneo now gives Ukrainian filmmakers a platform.
Away from the big headlines, how do Ukrainians feel after new rocket attacks? If you’re worried that only the cell phone’s mailbox will answer instead of your big brother who is still at home? Questions like these are addressed in the multilingual drama series “Himmel & Erde” on ZDFneo, which will be broadcast on Tuesday (October 25th, from 8:15 p.m.). It should remain available in the ZDF media library until at least October 2023.
In five sometimes very emotional episodes, Ukrainian filmmakers tell the story of Ukrainians in Germany – with German, English and Ukrainian subtitles. It is about the concern for those at home who are not allowed or do not want to leave the country attacked by Russia. But also about the unfamiliar life far away from war – or about a man who wants to return to Ukraine to fight there.
stories from everyday life
It is the everyday stories that once again illustrate the extent of human suffering and leave viewers shocked at the screen. Russia has been at war with the neighboring country for around eight months now. Millions of Ukrainians have fled the attacks. Many have since returned to their homeland.
“The performance of everyone involved is particularly remarkable, since the anthology series was developed and produced in a very short time,” said ZDFneo broadcaster Jasmin Maeda. According to her, there were only a few months between the start of shooting in July and the start of the ZDF media library in early October.
With the fictional stories, the broadcaster wanted to “give a prompt platform for their artistic engagement with current events,” according to Ukrainian filmmakers in Germany. With the project – the episodes are on average 20 minutes long – a quick entry into the German television industry was guaranteed for the creative people who fled.
Drama series in the ZDF media library