A blind girl who becomes the guardian of a group of orphans. A doctor who faces a huge moral dilemma. A teenager who tries to save her little sister at all costs. An elderly woman who loses her husband. A mother who goes to the front to find her son. Ania, Olena, Nastya, Lyuba and Maria – five seemingly ordinary women who were forced by the war to be heroic and unplanned. Their intertwining fates create a symbolic story about love, sacrifice and humanity. “People” is a shocking, deeply moving and heartbreaking film inspired by true accounts from war-torn Ukraine. It is a terrifying image of the conflagration of war and the Russian invader seen through the eyes of Ukrainian women who were forced to act to save themselves and their loved ones.
“Despite repeated declarations that I did not want to make any more films, something happened that made me decide to break my decision. The news about the brutality of the Russians who attacked Ukraine made me simply furious. This is probably the best reason for the director – a sense of helpless anger and injustice – to make a film. I wrote a script based on real events, I just had to combine them. The absurdity and cruelty of war affect civilians the most and that’s why we created a film told through their eyes,” he emphasizes Maciej Ślesickidirector, screenwriter and producer of “People”.
Ukrainian actresses played the main roles in the film: Mariia Shtofa, Oksana Cherkashyna, Afina Ostapenko, Tetyana Yurikova and Nino Naboka. He was also in the cast Cezary Pazura. The actor played a Pole in love with Olena, who, despite the outbreak of war, comes to Ukraine to take his beloved to a safe place, to Poland. However, it turns out that he will have to take care of four blind children. Polish audiences have never had the opportunity to see Pazura in such a role.
“Every global crisis ultimately comes down to the local suffering of ordinary people. To mothers, sons, daughters, fathers, grandparents, lovers, neighbors. And that’s what this film is about – People. Suddenly they have to face unimaginable decisions with the highest stakes – and both life and dignity are often at stake. Unfortunately, we slowly forget that such tragedies take place abroad every day. Each of us has our own life, our own reality, our own problems. It is normal that we slowly fall into indifference “That’s why sometimes you have to help empathy by inducing it. I hope this is what this film will be. An empathy inducer,” he adds. Philip Hilleslandfilm director.
The producer of the film is Warsaw Film School. He is responsible for its distribution Distribution Says Service. Film co-financed by Polish Film Institute.
The premiere of “Humans” is scheduled for October 12, 2024.