My Dear Théo

A moving and personal documentary by filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko, who made a profound choice in 2022: while her partner and their four-year-old son left for France, she joined the Ukrainian army. During four months at the front, she wrote letters to her son Theo and recorded her experiences in a cinematic diary. 

In My Dear Théo, Kovalenko, known for the documentaries Home Games and We Will Not Fade Away, which were screened at film festivals worldwide, swaps her role as a filmmaker for that of a soldier. In poetic, deeply moving letters to her son, she reflects on the harsh realities of war and her search for humanity amid violence and loss. The letters, which were later recorded, form a rare and powerful contrast to the raw images of the war zone: they capture both existential angst and the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child. 

With her intimate and confrontational images, Kovalenko blurs the line between personal and collective history. My Dear Théo is not only a record of struggle and survival, but also a timeless testament to love, hope and human resilience.