My Dear Théo

In a series of letters to her young son, a mother, soldier and filmmaker documents her thoughts from the Ukrainian frontline. A deeply moving and existential film of unimaginable courage.Ukrainian volunteer soldier, filmmaker and mother Alisa Kovalenko creates a testament to the power of love in the time of war - by balancing frontline routines, the horrors of the battlefield and tender poetic letters to her little son, Théo.

February 2022. Ukrainian filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko decides to follow a promise to herself to volunteer in the Ukrainian Armed Forces if the Russian invasion in her country turns full scale. Alisa goes to fight on the frontline, leaving behind her 5-year-old son Théo.
This film that should never have existed was born out of the effort to preserve, amidst the horrors and dangers of war, the evidence of the unwavering love that the mother has for her child.
Through intimate video diaries and poetic letters addressed to a future grown-up Théo, Kovalenko captures the devastating reality of war while reflecting on her choice to serve. Her camera reveals both the chaos of destruction and the profound humanity she finds among her fellow soldiers – their unwavering friendships, mutual support, and tender connections maintained with distant loved ones.
Serving both as a mother’s testament of love and a war documentary, the film weaves together Kovalenko’s personal story with the larger narrative of those who fight to ensure future generations may live in peace.
This first-person documentary offers an intense and intimate perspective on the human cost of war and the profound bonds between parent and child that endure even in the darkest circumstances.
Through her lens, Alisa Kovalenko honors both the living who serve and those who made the ultimate sacrifice, never to return to their families.

Alisa Kovalenko is a Ukrainian director, born in Zaporizhia, living in Kyiv. She graduated the Karpenko-Kary University of Cinema of Kyiv and the Andrzej-Wajda cinema school of Warsaw. Her first feature-documentary ALISA IN WARLAND premiered at IDFA Amsterdam in 2015 in the First appearance competition. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she joined a volunteer combat unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), which was deployed directly to the front line. She fought for four months before returning to complete WE WILL NOT FADE AWAY, which celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale 2023 and won the Award of the Open Eyes Youth Jury at NIHRFF 2023. Alisa is a member of SEMA Ukraine, an initiative that supports survivors of sexual violence in the context of war.

Regie