Experiencing Interruptions?

A Letter from Kherson

An entrepreneur from Kherson who lived through the fears and dangers of Russian invasion writes and films a video letter to his friends who live in Europe and America. As he feels obliged to report more than just simle "I'm ok", the purpose of his letter is tell own story of what was happening in Kherson for the past 1,5 years.

  • Alexei Sandakov
    Director & Narrator
  • Arthur Khanov
    Director of Photography & Editor
  • Catherine Kravchenko
    2-nd Camera
  • Anton Kosiei
    Composer & Sound Designer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 5, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Ukraine
  • Country of Filming:
    Ukraine
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography

Alexei turned to film making as a management consultant. His career started with a sketch about Lilea beach in Kherson, which was neglected by the city authorities. Having attracted attention of the community to the problem, Alexei was astonished how quickly such problem could be solved if they gained enough social resonance. A number of other social video projects followed, the most important of which was a video message by residents of Kherson demanding to perform works on a broken sewer.

Recently, Alexei has finished his “A Letter from Kherson” as director and currently supports Johnny O’Reilly with his documentary “Returning to Kherson” as a local producer and director.

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Director Statement

Since February 24, we have been under the heavy attention of our friends and relatives who live outside of Ukraine. Most of them understood that we couldn't talk a lot from the occupated city, and our communication came down to letting know we were in good health and that food was available. A year after the war started, I began writing and filming my letter, while the ongoing history kept forcing me to delay its sending.

There's no specific genre; it just seemed right to briefly let my closest friends know what it really felt like for the majority of people under occupation, during the liberation, and so on. Of course, there were too many war criminal acts, but we chose to show what the most of us where witnesses of.

Two months after the first shootings, we discovered that the river leads the main storyline in the film, and we went along with it. Hence, the tone and the tender mood.

Now, in December 2023, afert two months of "decompression" our team is working on its next project in Odessa. From current stand point it seems paradoxical to have been engaged in creative work while being under pressure of such intense and challenging events.