We Will Not Fade Away

The people of the Donbas region of Ukraine have been living with war since 2014. Young people suffer in particular, leading an uncertain, hopeless life in a rural area that has little to offer in the way of excitement anyway, and where a future as a miner seems inevitable.

We follow teenagers Andriy, Ruslan, Ilya, Lisa and Lera in 2019, during golden summer days, swimming in the lake, tinkering with a moped, rehearsing a play or helping in the garden. But these pensive shots keep being rudely interrupted by the raw reality of the front, just around the corner from their homes: the rattle of gunfire, distant explosions, the discovery of a rocket casing during a peaceful walk in the woods.

An invitation to go trekking in the Himalayas brings hope, and the five teenagers embark on an intensive training program to get in shape. Meanwhile, they talk about their dreams and plans for the future, determined to make something of their lives when the war, which has already taken up half their youth, is finally over.