The Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University will screen and discuss the feature documentary In the Rearview, 2023, directed by Maciek Hamela. Yuri Shevchuk will introduce director Maciek Hamela and lead the post-screening Q&A.
In the Rearview is an authentic, intimate observation of war as it unfolds, following multiple generations of Ukrainian civilians as they abandon their homes and rely on the help of Maciek Hamela’s volunteer aid van to escape the life-threatening conflict. As he steers through minefields to leave Ukraine and tries to get through numerous military checkpoints, Hamela offers us a seat in his car, guiding the documentary from behind the wheel and behind the camera, crisscrossing Ukraine to transport refugees safely to Poland. The van covers tens of thousands of kilometers and serves as a waiting room, hospital, shelter, and zone for confidence and confessions among compatriots thrown together by the war. In the Rearview is a collective portrait composed of an array of experiences of Ukrainians who share a single goal: finding a safe haven in the throes of conflict. With temporary asylum granted to all passengers, their differences in gender, age, skin tone, physical condition, origin, identity, worldviews and faith become irrelevant. While the war itself remains in the backdrop, its reflection and impact are evident and raw.
In Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish with English subtitles.
Maciek Hamela is a film and radio producer, director, scriptwriter. Born in Warsaw, Poland, he received a master’s degree from Sorbonne University (Paris IV) in French literature. Worked in renovations and as a tour guide, while studying film directing at École Internationale de Création Audiovisuelle et de Réalisation (EICAR). He is a longtime BBC Channel collaborator. A co-creator and a producer of a documentary short film Bless You, for which he received a Doc Alliance Award within the Cannes Docs program (Cannes FF 2021), the short was also presented at Millennium Docs Against Gravity FF. He produced films such as Convictions (MDR Film Prize for an outstanding Eastern European documentary film at Dok Leipzig IFF 2016), Gatherers of Sea Grass, Polonaise or Parquet. Being a director and a producer of various radio works he has received the Silver Melchior Radio Award for the Premiere of the Year 2018 in the Polish Radio Reporters National Competition. He produced and co-directed Plan B, a documentary podcast series for Audioteka.
