Life Begins
Directed by Oleksii TaranenkoCast: Volodymyr Kravchuk
- Healing, International, PTSD, Reintegration, Resilience, War in Ukraine
- Ukraine
- Narrative
- Ukrainian
- 2025
- 28 mins
- West Coast premiere
A war veteran struggles to readjust to civilian life after participating in fierce battles. He finds it difficult to find his place, even at home. A phone conversation with a combat friend, memories of the fallen, constant body pain and anxiety all serve to reveal how difficult it is for a veteran to exist in a peaceful life. The film ends abruptly, emphasizing the incompleteness and difficulty of veterans’ return to normal life, which is full of shadows of war.
Plays in
Narrative Shorts Block
This collection of shorts explores a range of human emotions and cinematic styles, from experimental to animation, period drama to present day narratives.

