Project description:

Challenge: To tell the world about the war in Ukraine and the humanity of Ukrainians through seven extraordinary stories of animal rescue — and to raise awareness of an environmental disaster that threatens not only Ukraine but the entire world.

Almost all the stories in our almanac are based on real events, and unfortunately, these events are still unfolding. The war goes on, and every day we are tested for our humanity. But we did not make this film to complain. We have harnessed the power of talent to tell our story for the sake of the future.

Solution: An optimal production schedule — seven short-story films, the involvement of a global star (Sean Penn) to amplify the project’s impact already at the creation stage, and active media support throughout all phases of implementation.

Advantages:

1. A highly relevant theme of humanity — “animals in wartime” — is combined with the issue of an environmental catastrophe as a global threat.
2. Empathetic protagonists: defenseless victims of war whose treatment becomes a marker of a nation’s civility.
3. The film-almanac format, which allows the participation of a large number of creators and provides flexibility to showcase each short both within the almanac and as standalone works — 7 stories, 7 film crews, 70 animals, 700 people involved.
4. The participation of Academy Award–winning Hollywood actor Sean Penn, who plays the lead role in the short film The Eagle.
5. A soundtrack by the world-famous band Imagine Dragons.

Result: The world premiere of the film anthology  Animals in War took place in the United States at the Tribeca Film Festival, and its national premiere was held at Ukraine’s largest film festival — the Odesa IFF. The film became an effective tool of cultural diplomacy and was screened in the European Parliament, at the global climate summit, at a major security forum, as well as in universities across Europe. International and Ukrainian media covered the entire story behind the creation of Animals in War and now everyone who watches the film can also contribute to supporting animals by scanning the QR code in the end credits.

Partners:

USAID, ESFUF, U-Hearts, KleosArt, ESSENCEFILM

Category: Social Change

Company: Sota Cinema Group

About the company: 

SOTA Cinema Group is a Ukrainian entertainment company that provides the full range of feature film production services, from development to post-production and festival promotion. Since 2006, SOTA has completed over 20 feature films in partnership with producers from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, France, the USA, and others. The company has had the pleasure of support from ARTE, BAVARIA FILM, CANAL+, and many other international networks promoting co-production in cinema. We believe that cinema is driven by artistic expression and original stories. Our philosophy has led us to collaborations with renowned international directors with strong, individual voices such as Kira Muratova, Roman Balayan, Krzysztof Zanussi, Sergey Loznica, Otar Ioseliani, and Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, among others.