The film, produced by Poland’s Wajda Studio, is an account of the first few weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, written and directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Alina Maksimenko.
“The documentary tells the story of my family, who suddenly finds itself in the middle of a war and is faced with dramatically difficult decisions," Maksimenko says.
"The story, although personal, shows a universal, human struggle within an extreme situation, on the verge of life and death, where there are no simple and painless solutions," she adds.
Maksimenko continues: “The axis of the film are my film notes from the first days of the war in Ukraine, documented in the form of a kind of diary in which I tried to record my own thoughts and emotions … The main character of the film is not so much me myself, but the human relations: mine with my parents, my parents’ love for each other, their attachment to their home, to their land."
Born in Kyiv, Maksimenko studied at the city’s Shevchenko Art School in the late 1980s. She recently graduated from the Wajda Film School in Warsaw.
Her first short documentary Ptitsa, a Wajda Studio production, received several awards at international festivals.
In Limbo represents Poland in the competition for the European Film Awards.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Lucerne, Switzerland, on December 7.
(mk/gs)
