My Dear Théo

Alisa Kovalenko

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. 

Credits

Director
Alisa Kovalenko
Producer
Katarzyna Kuczyńska
Year
2025
Country of production
Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic
Type
Documentary
Duration
98 minutes
Spoken language
Ukrainian
Subtitles
EN
Production company
Haka Films
World Sales
Stranger films sales