Wilmont says he felt that from the moment he first visited the shelter.
The whole place seemed to radiate comfort and caring.
In the documentary, Eva is seen trying to reach her mother on the phone.
Sasha (right) and Polina in ‘A House Made of Splinters’Final Cut for Real/Giant Pictures/POV
She calls her grandmother next, and in the conversation refers to her mothers apparent alcoholism.
I want her to stop drinking, she tells her grandma, so we can start all over again.
Life has always been hard here, the caregiver says.
Director Simon Lereng WilmontFinal Cut For Real
But the war made it worse.
His ostensibly tough exterior dissolves as tears roll down his cheeks.
At the Q&A he spoke about his approach.
I do my own cinematography and I do my own sound.
So, its actually just me and my assistant, [a] Ukrainian assistant director, he said.
I have two kids roughly the same age as them.
And I love hanging out with all of them and seeing the world through their eyes.
I think its super-fascinating.
That changed recently, however.
The kids got out safely on the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the director reports.
But they made it safely to, first, the western parts of Ukraine.
