POLINA – A Childhood Interrupted

In July, we spent three weeks back with Polina and her family — most likely our final filming block of this development phase. We now have what we need to begin writing and structuring the film in earnest.

We’d hoped to film at Polina’s school, possibly for scenes that open or close the film. We missed it. Ukraine’s school holidays had shifted a month earlier than usual, and by the time we arrived, the term had already ended. Many people we know were away too — short trips to the mountains, to summer houses, to relatives further from the front. It’s a strange thing to write, given the war hasn’t paused and the attacks haven’t slowed. But rest is still necessary, even now, and we had to make room for that rather than fight it.

What we gained instead reshaped the trip. We were given access to the bunker Polina’s family first fled to — the place where this story, in many ways, begins. We recreated fragments of her life before the war: rescuing an injured kestrel in the forest with her older brother, a birthday party, swimming at the beach with friends, cooking over an open fire. Ordinary moments, but they carry weight now — glimpses of a childhood that existed before everything changed, and the ground the rest of the film stands on.

We also began working with Polina directly on dialogue, recording her voice for the first time in this way. It’s early, but it’s a step toward letting her own words shape how the film is told.

Development is nearly done. Our producing team is now focused on finance — building out the budget, the funding plan, and the partnerships that will carry Polina into full production. There’s a lot of work ahead, but for the first time, we can see the shape of the whole film.

We’re incredibly honoured to share that Polina has been selected for the Goes to Cannes program at the Cannes Film Festival through the Marché du Film.

This is a significant step for the film — placing Polina’s story on one of the world’s most respected stages for cinema, and connecting us directly with international distributors, funders, and partners.

For a film that is built on quiet, emotional truth — a child’s experience of war, memory, and healing — this kind of recognition tells us the story is landing in the way we hoped.

As many of you know, we’ve been following Polina for years, capturing a deeply personal journey shaped by conflict but driven by resilience and hope . This moment helps bring that story closer to the world.

We’ll be heading to Cannes as we prepare for our final filming block in Ukraine — a crucial chapter before we move into post-production.

Thank you for being part of this with us. Your support is what makes moments like this possible.

Read the Variety announcement

Polina and her family remain in Ukraine, living through what are currently the harshest conditions since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. This winter has been especially brutal. Daily, heavily escalated attacks have crippled energy infrastructure and heating, repeatedly interrupting schools and work, and placing immense strain on already fragile emotional and mental resilience. Despite this, Polina continues to engage with us thoughtfully and bravely, and remains deeply invested in telling her story with honesty and care.

Over the past year, we have been moving through an intensive development phase and preparing for funding applications and entering full production mode. We’ve filmed Polina over the past 4 years and captured an extensive body of material, refined the film’s narrative and visual language, and started submitting to funding bodies. Our focus now is on securing finance to complete the film, alongside a further block of filming in Ukraine later this year.

You get access to an exclusive view of our short 6-minute character reel above, featuring Polina and including some new material filmed in 2025. The purpose of this video is to demonstrate how powerful Polina is as a character and how expansive her story is.

Help us finish the film. Donate if you can. Share the story if you can’t. Both matter.

Over the past year, Polina has made significant strides in both production and outreach.

Expanded Access & Filming: Our relationship with Polina’s family has deepened further. We filmed new material with Polina, her brother Vanya (now serving on the frontline), and her wider community. This longitudinal access — spanning several years — is giving the project unique intimacy and depth.

Creative Collaborations: We have begun conversations with animators and script editors (including Ukrainian and international talents) to refine the hybrid visual language that blends vérité, stylised reconstruction, and animation.

Fundraising & Support: We’ve raised significant grassroots donations, including support from school communities in Australia who were inspired to stage Polina’s story in live performances. These initiatives demonstrate the story’s power to resonate globally and mobilise impact.

Industry Engagement: We’ve advanced our festival and market strategy by engaging with key industry labs, impact producers, and potential distributors. Early interest has confirmed the project’s potential for strong international visibility.

Impact Campaign Foundations: Partnerships are forming with child rights organisations to align the film with broader advocacy goals around children in armed conflict, ensuring the documentary has a life well beyond screens.

Producer Attachment: We now have Ros Walker attached as our key producer who is helping navigate the screen bodies as we start applying for funding to complete the film and take it to an international audience.

Overall, this year has been about moving from early development into a clear creative and strategic framework. With secured access, proven resonance, and a growing circle of collaborators, Polina is well-positioned to enter its next stage of production and impact planning.

We were thrilled to hear from a local Primary school that they found Polina’s story on the internet and played it to their year 5 class. The students were captured by her story and were compelled to do something about it.

In a moving show of compassion, students from Mayfield East Public School have raised $3,000 to support Polina, an 11-year-old Ukrainian girl featured in our documentary who is helping care for displaced animals in her war-torn village. The fundraiser was recently covered by the Newcastle Herald and reflects the incredible generosity of young people who wanted to stand in solidarity with someone their own age living through unimaginable hardship.

Polina’s dream is to become a veterinarian, and every act of care she offers to injured or abandoned animals has become a symbol of hope and resistance. The support from Mayfield East students not only provides practical help but also builds a bridge of empathy between classrooms in Australia and children living with the daily realities of war.

This story is a reminder that small acts of kindness — even from far away — can have a powerful impact.

We’ve just passed the halfway mark for this essential filming trip in Ukraine, filming urgent and developing storylines as the war passes its third year and Polina continues to grow – she’s a proper teenager now!

It’s hard to recapture all of the events of the past three weeks except to say that they’ve been nothing short of miraculous and wonderful. Although the days are long and charged with emotion, we have been blessed with so many “random – not-so-random” moments unfolding in front of the camera. From a child therapist living on the frontline treating children, Polina’s brother’s surprise visit from the frontlines, school teachers sharing their experience and insights, the animal shelter and their desperate need for help saving and healing pets left in the destroyed cities and much more.

In parallel, we’re also faced with the critical political changes happening on the world stage. It is a pivotal time in world history, and we feel like we’re right in the middle of it all, sharing tears with local Ukrainians and holding them tight.

Our final two weeks left in Ukraine, could be the toughest yet. The wheels are in motion for us to spend some time in the frontline and follow Polina’s brother and fighting unit as they defend their country.

We want to thank you for your incredible support, not only with finances but also your encouragement and prayers, which keep us going each day. Please continue to share Polina’s story with your people as we move forward and prepare for the post-production production phase.

Sending you all our love – Shane + Agnes

Enjoy a small sampling of recent filming on this trip.

Shane & Agnes are preparing to return to Ukraine in February for another filming block, capturing Polina’s ever-evolving story and the ongoing situation arising from the war in Ukraine. After extensive research and building a strong network of experts and industry contacts in Ukraine, we are excited to continue our journey. This next instalment will not only delve deeper into Polina’s narrative but also allow us to expand our initial interviews and development efforts.

To bring this powerful story to life, we aim to raise an additional $70,000 to cover production and travel costs, including bringing a talented Ukrainian crew on board and addressing ongoing development costs associated with preparing this film for an international audience.

We invite you to support our mission by donating to our documentary project through the Documentary Australia donation page. Your contribution will not only help us cover essential costs but also ensure that Polina’s story is heard on a global scale. Together, we can shine a light on the resilience and complexity of life in Ukraine during these challenging times. Please visit the Documentary Australia donation page and join us in making a difference!

Here is a quick update from the edit suite as we prepare to return to Ukraine in February for a significant filming block of Polina’s story.

NOVEMBER UPDATE

A lot is happening in the Pink Monkey camp as we complete our first Sizzle Reel using our research footage and prepare for a major fundraising campaign leading into the new year.

Principle filming and photography will be taking place over a 6-week period from February-March 2025, where we plan to capture the material required to complete the documentary. However, it’s a hot subject, and there are many factors still active which may alter and change those plans. We have designed the project to be agile and capable of adjusting as needed. We will also work with local filmmakers in Ukraine as needed and in different areas where the extra resources add value.

Our relationships with NGO’s and organisations such as the UN Office for Children in War and Armed Conflict, Amnesty International, and World Vision International are developing and will come into play as the documentary comes together. The sizzle reel will also be beneficial and a first look for these organisations as to the story and how it looks.

Key updates:
– Sizzle reel to be released Dec 2024
– Fundraising launched Dec-Feb 2025
– Filming/Production in Ukraine Feb-Mar 2025
– Editorial April-

This week we had the chance to work with Steve Pasvolsky, an incredible director/writer helping us craft and shape the story of “We Are Waiting”.

During this session, we assessed over 40 story points and individual scenes we have filmed during our research and development phases. This process has been invaluable and helped us identify key themes and story arcs. In-turn, we have a much clearer idea of what we’re missing or need to capture next time we return to Ukraine.

More importantly, some big decisions were made around our characters and we believe we have enough material to create our first trailer/teaser for the story.

A little of a back-dated update.

12 months after first visiting war-torn Ukraine (Aug 2022), we couldn’t wait to get back and do more to help the people we met along our journey and our final look at whether this story we’d been gripped by was something we should/could pursue.

We aimed to achieve two things. To deliver essential aid for the upcoming winter and follow up on a story we encountered previously in the village of Moschun (Kyiv Oblast).

For the aid – we communicated with our partners on the ground in Ukraine, and we got a good idea of what exactly was required. We’ve learnt that often the things we think would be high on the list of priorities are very different in reality… and again proven in these circumstances. Many families and older people had already received things such as sleeping bags and jackets the year before. So this year, the kind of things people were looking for were vitamins, basic medication, dehydrated foods, batteries and gas cookers.

For the story – we were able to spend a week with the original family we’d met on the first trip and where the story originated. This enabled us to go much deeper and hold some preliminary interviews with family members and other local personalities around that particular village. We also ended up travelling down to Kherson and other cities as we followed leads. It was an invaluable trip and confirmed and gave us a more rounded idea of exactly where our story should head.

Key takeaways and thoughts.
1. The themes of the story should be focused on a broader issue of children in war and armed conflict and the cycle of violence in regions and countries where there have been conflicts for generations.
2. The inclusion of 2 other characters who have very different and important experiences and perspectives on the theme.
3. Our main goal is now to have this film screened as a part of the UN’s special office for Children in War and Armed Conflict renewed campaign to it’s member states.
4. For the “west” it’s very difficult to understand the minds and hearts of people who have lived under these circumstances and this film will be essential in bridging that gap.

A short clip of the aid delivery and some of the wonderful humans we met along the way.

Thanks for following and your support!

Shane + Agnes