Student's winning film gives diary-style recount of Ukraine invasion

Jennifer Sweet · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 27, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

First-year journalism pupil Polina Kozlova amazed immoderate of her classmates, professors and herself erstwhile a movie she made astir her acquisition during the Russian penetration of Ukraine won champion representation astatine a shorts festival enactment connected by St. Thomas University students.

"It was similar a confession," said Kozlova, who usually doesn't speech overmuch astir her warfare experience.

In My Home, she describes what she saw, heard and felt erstwhile the penetration began. Her six-minute video-diary-style relationship is interspersed with scenes of tanks rolling in, bombed retired flat buildings and fiery projectiles falling from the sky.

Kozlova recorded it without a script. Some of the scenes were recorded successful her location municipality by her friends, astatine idiosyncratic hazard should their phones person been searched.

WATCH | 'My hometown … was truly adjacent to the enactment of struggle from the precise beginning'

"I was trying to marque radical consciousness however I was feeling successful archetypal days of war," she said successful an interview.

"It's specified a confusing feeling. You don't recognize what's going on. … It's similar watching your beingness dilatory ruined. … You're conscionable observing and trying to determine what to bash next."

Kozlova describes herself arsenic a blessed 16-year-old earlier the war. She had good friends. She was experiencing her archetypal teenage love. 

On the archetypal time of the invasion, she was astatine location successful Kherson with her eight-year-old brother.

"I was trying to play committee games with him, speech to him," and to disregard what was happening extracurricular the window, she said.

Her parent was astatine the boarding schoolhouse wherever she worked arsenic a teacher. Her begetter was astatine his spot of business.

She called them asking what to do. They told her to battalion her bags.

Like galore Ukrainians, Kozlova fled the state due to the fact that of the war. She ended up going to Halifax with a person of her parents, who thought it would beryllium a amended spot for her to survey successful peace.

The remainder of her household stayed successful Ukraine. Her begetter couldn't permission due to the fact that of mandatory subject work rules. Her parent wouldn't permission without him.

The archetypal years successful Canada were difficult, stressful and unhappy, Kozlova said. 

She had ne'er dreamed of moving that acold from home. She had been readying to spell to assemblage successful Kharkiv to survey languages. She was nary longer definite what her aboriginal would look like. 

She inactive thinks astir what her beingness would beryllium similar if the warfare hadn't happened.

"I would inactive beryllium happy, probably," she said.

It's starting to get amended now.

Friendships successful Canada help

She has enjoyed her archetypal twelvemonth astatine STU, wherever fees for the archetypal 2 years of her four-year grade person been waived nether a peculiar programme for students from struggle zones.

She has made galore friends and she's feeling a spot much secure.

"It gives maine clip to respire a small spot and really program what's going to beryllium next," she said.

But she feels she had to go a wholly antithetic person.

"Everything that I knew before, everything that I was doing earlier — it's gone."

"I deliberation I needed to turn up overmuch earlier … and alteration immoderate preferences successful life."

Kozlova said she felt compelled to stock her communicative due to the fact that she believes radical are starting to hide the warfare is inactive happening. 

"I cannot conscionable disregard it due to the fact that my household is inactive there," she said.

"I privation the radical to cognize however I'm feeling astir it, however it was for me.

"I inactive person a anticipation that it each volition beryllium implicit 1 day."

Kozlova went backmost to Ukraine past summertime for a visit. People were retired enjoying summertime activities and gathering with friends, she said.

"They are trying to support affirmative and trying to unrecorded their life. So that's what I'm besides trying to do."

Audience moved

Her household present lives successful Odesa, wherever it's comparatively safe. 

Kozlova speaks with them often, and they are supportive, she said. They've seen her movie and showed it to her grandparents arsenic well.

"Everyone was truly touched," she said.

The reception was akin astatine STU's caller movie festival.

After a spot of stunned silence, Kozlova said, the assemblage reacted with tears and enthusiastic praise.