The Path

The author's video poetry about the meaning of life during the war, when you had faith in "never again".

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"THE PATH"
(translation into English)
The path taught me to be here.
Staying alive and free.
And proved: that not only the first step is significant.
Because every step is a way to win.
It’s not the end, it just the beginning.
Even though, a life is a path to death.
But you are the only one to choose your path.
So I choose to live.
To live in a house not destroyed by a bomb.
To stay safe, not to be trammed.
I choose myself.
I choose to be.
To be, although the enemy want me to die.
But we’ll stay alive.
We just cannot die.

  • Victoria Zadorska
    Director
  • Victoria Zadorska
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 25, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Ukraine
  • Country of Filming:
    Ukraine
  • Language:
    English, German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - KNUFTV
  • 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.

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Director Statement

The video poem «The Path» is my reflection on the events that astonished the world in 2022. Because the war is raging not only on the front line. The war is raging inside each of us. The experience of the past, which sounds as the audio track in the film, speaks to the viewer: «everything happened again». The image of a butterfly becomes a reflection of people who, having fallen into the "system", do not know how to get out of it.

«The Path» is the story of one poem, one frame, one «small» butterfly.