Private Project

3 days before

There are traces of afternoon rain on the pavement. A GRANDSON and his GRANDFATHER are walking along Babyn Yar three days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The boy holds a stick with inscribed sacred hieroglyphs that promise to protect against dark forces. His grandfather has a similar one. They pause for a moment to deliver a foreshadowing message. They answer in Russian to the questions in Ukrainian. The characters wish me all the best and leave. Their silhouettes dissolve in the Yar paths like the ghosts of the long-dead and tortured here.
During the Second World War of 1939-1945, the German invaders massively shot and buried about 100,000 people in Babyn Yar, the vast majority of whom were Jews.
During the Russian-Ukrainian war, on March 1, 2022, at 17:10, a Russian missile hit the Babyn Yar area. Five civilians were killed.

  • Victoria Zadorska
    Director
  • Victoria Zadorska
    Writer
  • Artem Golubev
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 21, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Ukraine
  • Country of Filming:
    Ukraine
  • Language:
    Russian, Ukrainian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Serhiy Bukovsky Documentary Film Studio
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Victoria Zadorska

Victoria is a Ukrainian writer, screenwriter, and director. She began her career in 2016, writing several trilogies, duologies, and standalone novels. Her debut published book, Skeletons from My Granny's Closet, was longlisted for BBC Ukraine's Best Children's Book.

Victoria's screenwriting career started in 2021 when she won with a short film script at the Bobritsa Film Festival. She has written over 50 animated shorts, various educational series for Diia.Education, and several live-action short films, including Spacedad and Fish, which she also directed.

In 2024, Victoria expanded her directorial work with the short film Under the Pillow, shot during the Kino Guarimba residency in Italy. Her documentary I Want to Be Like Kharlan was created in collaboration with Ukraine's Public Broadcasting.

Victoria continues to explore the intersection of fantasy and reality, bringing her stories to life both in books and on screen.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

During the Second World War of 1939-1945, the German invaders massively shot and buried about 100,000 people in Babyn Yar, the vast majority of whom were Jews. During the Russian-Ukrainian war, on March 1, 2022, at 17:10, a Russian missile hit the Babyn Yar area. Five civilians were killed. Eighty years separate these events. Eighty years, during which the humanity was growing humane and repeated "Never again," promising that there would be no war. It turns out that this was an illusion.
"Three days before" is a story observed through the camera lens in Babyn Yar, which I filmed three days before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The meeting with two characters, a grandson, and his grandfather, became sacred. The words they said turned out to be somewhat horrifying and yet a stunning prediction of events that soon happened to all Ukrainians. It is not known whether the characters of my film will ever walk in Babyn Yar again. It is not known whether they "defended themselves from the dark forces."
The film was shot in one take. It includes a dual combination of two languages. The characters speak Russian, and I answer them in Ukrainian. There is a significant symbolism behind this. Russia accuses Ukrainians of oppressing the Russian-speaking population. But this is not the case. In fact, the language issue did not prevent us from understanding each other, just like it has never prevented all Ukrainians from understanding each other before.