“Children in the Fire” premieres in Ukraine at Odesa International Film Festival
Odesa, Ukraine - October 2025: The Odesa International Film Festival is proud to host the Ukrainian Gala premiere and a first screening in Ukraine of Children In The Fire, the latest documentary from acclaimed director, Evgeny Afineevsky, whose visionary and fearless filmmaking continues to shed light on humanities most urgent stories.
Children In The Fire is an emotionally powerful and visually compelling documentary that offers intimate insight into the lives of young Ukrainian survivors of the 2022 Russian invasion. Told almost entirely through the voices of children and teenagers who witnessed immense atrocities.
https://www.childreninthefire.com/
The film has already begun to garner international acclaim since its official premiere at the 2025 Raindance Film Festival in London. It was recently awarded The Jury Special Prize and the prestigious AMADE Prize at the Monte Carlo Television Festival (2025). Today, the film has already been recognized with over 5 different awards. This documentary is more than a film, it is a call for action.
Additionally, Children In The Fire is being shown through a series of parliamentary screenings, helping to generate meaningful visibility in influential spaces - proving to be a powerful way of driving awareness and impact.
“Today, only children’s voices can awaken the minds and hearts of politicians and the public. We are all parents and more than anything we want to see a healthy smile and a future for our kids. That is why I decided to bring a spotlight to the children and to give them a voice through the large cinematic screen. My hero - characters representing thousands and thousands of kids. My little heroes found the strength to survive and move forward. Their stories have the power to change lives and call for action.” - Evgeny Afineevsky
Prior to the premiere, which sold out immediately on the opening day of the 16th Odesa International Festival, a Press conference panel will be held to discuss the film and the important subject matter it tackles. Participants include: Oleksandra Matviichuk (Nobel Prize recipient); Evgeny Afineevsky (Oscar and Emmy nominated director / producer), Galyna Sadomtseva (Emmy-nominated producer); Chairman Emeritus, Congressman Michael McCaul (US Congressman), Anna Machukh (Executive Director, Ukrainian Film Academy and General Director, Odessa International Film Festival), and Johanna Baxter (British MP)
The screening at the Odesa International Film Festival will also invite select media to speak with Evgeny, members of Animated studio Karandash, Emmy-nominated producer Galyna Sadomtseva and film protagonists: Valeriia Sydorova, Yana Stepanenko, Roman Oleksiv, Veronika Vlasova and Sergey Cherednichenko, who are featured in the documentary, to give further, personal insight.
About Evgeny Afineevsky
Evgeny Afineevsky is an Oscar and Emmy-nominated director. In February 2023, Evgeny presented to the world a newly edited and updated comprehensive version of his
headline-breaking and 3 time Emmy nominated documentary FREEDOM ON FIRE: UKRAINE’S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, outlining all 9 years of the war and one full year of the full-scale invasion, which premiered in Kyiv and twice in The Vatican with Pope Francis in attendance. In June 2023, The Cinema for Peace Awarded His Holiness Pope Francis, President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy, and filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky at the Vatican with the special joint award. This is the first time that two global leaders and one filmmaker were honoured with a joint award and that the award was dedicated to someone — the children who lost their lives in the war in Ukraine.
In 2020, Catholics in Media Associates awarded him with the 2020 CIMA Social Justice Award for his passion for telling stories that matter, his love for humanity and work for justice. Also in 2020, he premiered his headline making movie FRANCESCO in Rome, where he was awarded with the prestigious Kineo Award.
His documentary, CRIES FROM SYRIA, was an Official Selection at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival; won International Documentary Association’s Courage Under Fire Award, the Humanitas Prize, a Cinema for Peace Award, and the Overseas Press Club’s Peter Jennings Award and Best Director at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, as well as a nomination for Best Documentary. It was also nominated for four Emmy Awards and a PGA Award.
In 2016, he earned an Oscar & Emmy nomination for WINTER ON FIRE: UKRAINE’S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, which was an Official Selection of the Venice & Telluride film festivals; won the People’s Choice Award for the Best Documentary from the Toronto International Film Festival & received the Television Academy’s Honors Award.
About the Odesa International Film Festival
Odesa International Film Festival is the main festival of Ukrainian cinema. The OIFF hosts the premieres of the most anticipated national films, as well as the debuts of young talents. In addition, the OIFF is a festival of premieres. In the non-competition programmes of the Odesa International Film Festival the audience have the exclusive opportunity to be among the first ones to see international festival hits ("Festival of Festivals" section), as well as art hits that will soon be released in Ukraine ("Gala Premieres" section). The OIFF programme focuses on art-mainstream films - films with high artistic quality, yet accessible to a wider audience.