UKRAINE: ENEMY IN THE WOODS
ONE HOUR FILM FOR THE BBC - DIRECTED, PRODUCED & FILMED BY JAMIE ROBERTS - MADE AT HOYO FILMS
★★★★★ "ENEMY IN THE WOODS IS ONE OF THE MOST VITAL, REMARKABLE PIECES OF FILMMAKING TO EMERGE FROM THE CONFLICT. PUNISHINGLY VISCERAL AND UNSPARINGLY HONEST" Financial Times
★★★★★ "A HARROWING VISION OF HELL YOU WILL NEVER FORGET." Guardian
★★★★★ "THE RAW REALITY OF FRONTLINE COMBAT." The Times
★★★★★ “UNFLINCHING” iNews ★★★★★ “GRIPPING” Daily Mail ★★★★★ “REMARKABLE” Telegraph
With extraordinary access to the tightly controlled frontlines Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods follows the mission of a Ukrainian assault company as they undertake a single deployment on one of Ukraine’s most violent battlefronts; a snow-covered forest near Kupyansk. Their mission is to defend a railway line, a key strategic asset that, if captured, will enable Russia to mount a direct attack on Ukraine's second largest city; Kharkiv.
Commissioned by BBC Current Affairs, Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods is directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Jamie Roberts and Exec Produced by BAFTA-award-winning Jonathan Smith.
Filmed over 9 weeks, the documentary examines the lives of a 99 strong military company as they face sustained Russian assaults. Their stories are told through immersive footage filmed by the troops themselves, combined with observational filming and intimate interviews to present an unflinching human portrait of Europe's bloodiest war in living memory. Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods tells the story of frontline Ukrainian fighters as they battle to push back a Russian advance on Ukraine’s intensely bombarded Eastern Front. The character led documentary is a ground level view of the war through the eyes of the soldiers fighting it.
This deep focus on the daily life of frontline fighters’ lays bare the motivations and profound impact of this brutal conflict on the people still fighting, and poses the question: for the people involved, what does victory even look like?
Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods is a debut documentary from HOYO Films and is commissioned by BBC Current Affairs. It is distributed globally by All3Media International.