Remind viewers around the world that “the war in Ukraine continues” and “tell the truth” without falling into propaganda are the stated objectives of the series In her carshot in the middle of the conflict and screened this week at Mipcom in Cannes.
The project, co-produced by Gaumont, was unveiled on the Croisette last year, during this international audiovisual market, to illustrate the resilience of the Ukrainian TV industry. A year later, six out of ten episodes were filmed and around ten European broadcasters participated in its financing, including France Télévisions.
A psychologist in conversation with refugees
We follow Lydia (Anastasia Karpenko), a psychologist who, in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022, decides to transport refugees in her car. This improvised therapy session is mixed with flashbacks showing the passengers’ former lives, put into perspective. “It was very important for me not to create a series about war but about how war affects people’s destiny, their views on the world,” explains Eugen Tunik, the creator of the series, 31 years old. When the war started, I myself understood that any problems I had before February 24 were absolutely no longer of the same importance. »
It was in the spring of 2022 that he got his idea, inspired in particular by the work of volunteers during the conflict. In search of a series festival where he could present it, he was selected by the one in Berlin, where the Ukrainian government authorized him to go.
It was there that he met Andreas Bareiss, producer for Gaumont in Germany and member of the Berlin jury. “There were around a hundred projects in competition, only three or four made it to the end. And there was this very charismatic young boy, with a very special project” with whom “the whole jury instantly fell in love”, reports the latter, who set his network in motion to gather funding.
” Tell the truth “
From March 2023, filming can begin, in undisclosed locations, in kyiv and its surroundings. “It was crucial for me to shoot in Ukraine, not because I’m crazy, but to show life as it was at the start of the war” and “because we can do it,” explains Eugen Tunik. “Even French actors came to Kiev for an episode,” he underlines, specifying that the sets are located near bomb shelters and that “many teams have returned to work”.
Not Manichean, the first three episodes do not overwhelm the Russians, whose language is spoken by certain characters, such as Lydia’s husband, originally from Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine. And this, despite the rejection that it now provokes among many Ukrainians. “I didn’t want to make a propaganda series” but “to tell the truth,” comments Eugen Tunik, who himself stopped speaking Russian after the invasion. “It would have been so understandable if the series” was filled with hatred but, “at no time did Eugen fall into this trap,” greets Andreas Bareiss.
Isn’t it too early to tackle the subject in fiction? “It’s a debate that we have” but the war is only a “decor” in the series, argues Eugen Tunik, who refused to deal with “the most terrible and always painful events that occurred in Boutcha or Mariupol.” “It’s the right time,” says Veronika Kovacova, of Beta film, in charge of international sales and who is aiming for a launch around February. I wouldn’t say that people tend to forget Ukraine but the initial shock has passed. » Another series inspired by war, Those who stayed (“Those Who Stayed”), will arrive on Netflix on November 1 in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. It will also be broadcast on television in twelve countries, including France and Australia.