My Dear Théo

When Russia invades Ukraine in 2022, filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko chooses not to flee to France with her son, but to go to the front and fight. She is fully aware of the risk she is taking, and of what she may be doing to her son: forcing him to grow up without the boundless love she feels for him.

In poetic letters, she explains her motivations, recounts her daily experiences, and recalls cherished memories. She imagines a time when the war will be over, and how much fun he could have playing in the trenches then. But she also wonders whether he still dreams of her, the way she dreams of him.

Shot during brief moments of relative calm, this video diary conveys what it feels like to lie hidden in a trench, listening to nearby shelling and feeling the ground shake as an enemy tank goes by. Though the horrors of war are never far away, Kovalenko also reveals a quieter, rarely seen side: the one her comrades are fighting for—their children’s future, and the small, ordinary things that make life worth living.