The Wars We Play

documentary, 90 min

Ukrainian, Portuguese

logline

Can football endure war? At Shakhtar Donetsk, a Brazilian newcomer and a Ukrainian amputee are bound by the game but torn apart by conflict. 

directors’ statement

The Wars We Play is a multilayered portrait of today’s Ukraine, told through the people who shape this club. Between the Ukrainian amputee, for whom every match is an act of reclaiming his life, and the Brazilian newcomer, trying to find his footing in the shadow of conflict, a central question arises: how does national identity emerge, change and redefine itself under the conditions of war? 

Through the lens of Shakhtar Donetsk – Ukraine’s most internationally renowned football club, exiled from the Donbas since 2014 and travelling across Europe ever since – we examine the contradictions and fault lines of modern Ukrainian identity in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion. 

To tell this war through football is to take a road rarely traveled in documentary filmmaking. As a Brazilian-Ukrainian directing duo, we are in a unique position to bridge Shakhtar’s dual identity and to gain the trust of our protagonists on both sides of the locker room. 

directed by João Pedro Prado, Anton Yaremchuk

production company: Carousel Film

producers: Vincent Edusei, Maritza Grass

co-production company: дім Filmhouse

co-producer: Eric Holland

cinematography: Anton Yaremchuk

editing: Amélie Richter