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Filmed entirely in a van, an authentic, intimate observation of the war in Ukraine unfolds; “In the Rearview” on POV – Oct. 7 at 10 pm


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‘POV’ Shares the Experiences of Ukrainian Refugees Fleeing the 2022 Russian Invasion in the National Broadcast Premiere of
“In the Rearview”

Monday, October 7 at 10:00 pm

 

POV, the multi-Emmy® and Peabody award-winning documentary series, answers the question if a documentary filmmaker can record history while serving as a reformist in the gut-wrenching, yet subtle war documentary In the Rearview by Polish director Maciek Hamela. When Russia escalated its war against Ukraine in 2022, Hamela bought a van and volunteered to drive Ukrainian refugees to safety in Poland. Filmed almost entirely inside his vehicle, Hamela turned his camera on the passengers in the backseat as they attempt to process the effects of war.

Through the front windshield of a car the blurred silhouette of a driver with a large orange siren in the middle of his dashboard looks out onto a grey, foreboding sky, and a highway. A few feet up the highway is a roadblock. The roadblock looks hastily thrown together with wooden panels and bags of gravel. More bags litter the side of the road and two flags fly above the roadblock, their colors not visible.
Inside an evacuation van, there is a glimpse of the driver’s back and a signal lamp, seen through the windshield which shows a road ahead with a block post located within..

Produced by Hamela and Piotr Grawender, In the Rearview, marks Hamela’s feature-length directorial debut. The documentary was among 15 films shortlisted in the category of Best Documentary Feature Film for the 96thAcademy Awards® in the Best Documentary Feature Film, and was featured on the International Documentary Association’s, (IDA), Feature Documentary shortlist.

In the Rearview, will make its national broadcast premiere on POV Monday, October 7, 2024 at 10PM on PBS Television, and available to stream until November 6, 2024, at pbs.org, and the PBS App.

POV’s Executive Producer, Chris White says, “Maciek’s camera gives viewers a profound and devastating lens into what this war has wrought, through the faces and reflections of families like yours and mine: grandparents, mothers and fathers with their children and pets, forced to flee their homes.”

“It’s an enormous privilege to be part of the POV showcase and share In the Rearview with the American audience,” said Maciek Hamela, director of In the Rearview. “I feel it’s important now, more than ever, to talk about displacement and occupation through intimate and personal stories, as the global refugee crisis intensifies and we’re witnessing an unprecedented dehumanization of war victims.”

A young Black woman lies across several seats in the back of a van. She has a white pillow to support her head and a white comforter over her body. She looks up at the camera with worry as she leans her elbow against the drivers seat. Above her, the car's window looks out onto houses and a blue sky, slightly out of focus.
Sifa, a Congolese girl who has been living in Ukraine for 10 years, is shown in an evacuation van transformed into an ambulance due to her health condition caused by an assault by Russian armed forces.
Credit: Wawrzyniec Skoczylas

In the initial days of Russia’s full scale invasion of the Ukraine, Polish aid worker-turned-filmmaker Maciek Hamela purchased a minivan and began evacuating Ukrainian civilians — mostly women and children, now all refugees — to Poland. Filmed over many trips, In the Rearview eschews depictions of carnage in order to capture the psychological costs and tragic consequences of the Russian invasion. Squashed in Hamela’s backseat, a family sheds tears over abandoning their cow. A young man speaks stoically about being tortured by Russian soldiers. Five-year-old Sanya has stopped speaking. Using dark humor, a husband en route to meet his wife in Poland complains that despite the destruction, she kept sending him “Honey Do Lists.” As Hamela’s taxi navigates checkpoints, minefields, and Russian attacks, In the Rearview displays faces — young and old, devastated and resilient — offering a moving and sublime reflection of humanity in the midst of war. The film is a co-production between Poland, France and Ukraine.

In the Rearview made its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, and its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. An official selection of over 90 film festivals worldwide, winning more than 30 awards, including the Grand Jury Prize in the International Competition at the 2023 Sheffield DocFest, Best Polish Film Award at the 2023 Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, recognized by the International Documentary Association with the IDA Pare Lorentz Award 2023.