Traces

Psychological portrait telling the stories of six women who survived sexual violence and torture during Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Led by Iryna Dovgan, they fight for justice and recognition. In the face of massive trauma, Iryna encourages them to rebuild their lives. Very inspiring.

‘This is my weapon with which I constantly shoot back’, says Iryna Dogvan, founder of SEMA Ukraine. Her organisation empowers survivors of conflict-related sexual violence committed by the Russian military. Iryna documents their testimonies to ultimately hold the perpetrators accountable. On top of that, she helps the women recover from their trauma and start a new life, or as she puts it: take root again. ‘I tell the women: the fact they’re not constantly suffering, that they keep moving forward and have goals – that’s the best slap in the face of the enemies.’

In Traces the women tell their own heartbreaking, often deeply disturbing stories in voice-overs against the backdrop of tender, poetic and serene images of their current lives. ‘You seem to exist, but you’re nobody’, one of them says. With each other’s help, the women learn to move forward and look up again. Their stories of courage, resilience and determination show how the human spirit can find strength in the face of adversity, and transform traumatic experience into post-traumatic growth. ‘It’s impossible to recover what was lost’, Iryna says. ‘But the best way to heal from trauma, is to move forward.’