Documentaries
Ukraine documentaries
Ukraine documentary 1
This was our first experience, as journalists, in a warzone. We travelled to Ukraine towards the end of March 2022, first passing through, and documenting the plight of Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia and Poland. We entered Ukraine from Lviv, where we interviewed women and children who had escaped from the brutal fighting raging in the easter part of the country.
Next up, we headed to Kyiv which, at the time, was still surrounded by Russian forces. Over the next few days, we documented the horrors that took place in Irpin and Bucha – two quiet suburbs that had been turned into a hellscape.
In this documentary, we shed light on the war crimes committed in these areas, as well as on the brutality of war. We would return to Ukraine to produce a second documentary two months later.
Ukraine documentary 2
In May 2022, we returned to Ukraine to work on our second documentary. This time we spent time between Kyiv and Kharkiv in the east. The city of Kharkiv, being situated close to the border with Russia, was coming under constant bombardment.
Here we spent time with volunteers who were delivering essential humanitarian aid to people in the city itself and also in the surrounding region. During one of these trips, our team came under fire from Russian artillery.
In Kharkiv, we also interviewed doctors, soldiers and ordinary civilians who were living in the worst-hit districts of the city. We also spent a few days with an elite military unit in a secret military base located just a few kilometres from the border.
This documentary was produced with both English and Ukrainian subtitles.
Ethiopia documentary
New Schools in Ethiopia
Another extremely interesting experience was travelling to Ethiopia to film a documentary for the Sigma Foundation.
The foundation is developing several projects in Jimma Bonga, including building a new primary and secondary school in the area.
Travelling to this remote area gave us the opportunity to interact with the local population, and take in the vibrant culture and colourful scenery, all of which were captured on film.
We filmed the entire journey – from the team’s departure from Malta to their stops in Istanbul, Addis Ababa and eventually, Jimma Bonga. But the most heart-warming scenes we shot were during the opening of the new school – the sheer elation of the local students who now have the means to receive a better education.
