When Russia invaded in February 2022. Japanese director Akane Yamada travelled to the war zone to document an often-overlooked story - the fate of animals and the people who refuse to abandon them. Known for her work in disaster zones since Fukushima, Yamada witnessed animal welfare groups mobilising at the Polish border to help refugees and their pets, and followed Ukrainians who continued to adopt shelter animals amid the chaos. In Borodianka, near Kyiv, she uncovered the tragic deaths of shelter dogs left behind during occupation. Her three-year investigation led her deep into Ukraine's frontline regions, from flooded Kherson after the Kahkovka Dam's destruction to a children's hospital in Kyiv struck by a missile. Through the stories of people who refuse to abandon animals even amid the devastation of war, this documentary portrays the resilience and dignity of those who refuse to surrender to violence.
Akane Yamada
Them self
Masahiro Higashide
Narrator
Viktor Kopach
Animal-id.net Representative
Przemysław Malik
Centaurus Foundation Shelter Manager, Poland
Olena Kolesnykova
Representatives of Animal Protection Group "Hvostata Banda", Ukraine
Anastasiia Onikova
Representatives of Animal Protection Group "Hvostata Banda", Ukraine
Ira Samoilenko
Member of Animal Protection Group "Hvostata Banda", Ukraine
Representative of BREAKING THE CHAINS, UK
Tom Tommies
