Film Screening & Discussion. A House Made of Splinters, 2022
The Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University will screen and discuss the new feature documentary A House Made of Splinters, 2022, by director Simon Lereng Wilmont. Yuri Shevchuk will introduce the program and lead the post-screening discussion.
This film about Ukrainian children was nominated for an Oscar.
On February 24, it was announced that the film A House Made of Splinters directed by Simon Lereng Vilmont, jointly produced by Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, was nominated for the Oscar award as the Best Documentary Feature.
This is a film about children from the East of Ukraine, who found themselves between two wars – in their country, due to the invasion of Russia, and in their families, due to the indifference of their parents. Eva, Sasha and Kolya are waiting for their fate to be decided in a temporary children’s shelter, whose teachers and carers give the children moments of joy and peace.
There was neither a script, nor rehearsals, nor even takes when filming A House Made of Splinters. “There was only me, the camera and my assistant. So it became easier for children to open up and be themselves. They often forgot that we were around and just lived their lives,” Simon Lereng Wilmont says.
“The most important thing is that the film has already influenced the fate of the characters. Thanks to one of the closed screenings the teenager, Kolya was adopted by a family that was impressed by the boy’s story,” Azad Safarov said, the film’s assistant director and line producer.
Thanks to Lena Rozvadovska, a psychologist and a human rights activist, all doors to the children’s world were opened for the film crew. It was with her advice and psychological support that the directors were able to become children’s people.
In 2019, during the filming of A House Made of Splinters, Azad Safarov and Olena Rozvadovska created the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation, the work of which was recognized by the world media – BBC, CNN and others, as well as such celebrities as Madonna and Oprah Winfrey.
Important Note
Registration required. Please note that all attendees must follow Columbia’s COVID-19 Policies and Guidelines. Columbia University is committed to protecting the health and safety of its community. To that end, all visiting alumni and guests must meet the University requirement of full vaccination status in order to attend in-person events. Vaccination cards may be checked upon entry to all venues.
