New film to launch showcasing Hereford's welcoming of displaced Ukrainians from the conflict
The film will be shown at Borderlines Film Festival in March
Hereford's Rural Media production company are to premiere their new film Razom at Borderlines Film Festival next month.
The film is made with Ukrainian and Herefordshire young people, with the title being the Ukrainian word for together.
Produced over a few months, it shows Herefordshire's welcoming of displaced Ukrainians due to the conflict.
It's been two years since war broke out, and the film aims to celebrate six months of creativity, commitment, and friendship in the community.
Producer and director at Rural Media Rachel Lambert is excited at what has been created, and can't wait to show the full film to the public.
She said: "" We are thrilled and very grateful to Borderlines Film Festival for the screening, and it's great that the public get to see all of the hard work that has gone into this.
"What's been lovely about this opportunity is that it's allowed us the freedom to talk to the young people about what they wanted to create and make it about.
"Herefordshire as a county has been so welcoming to Ukrainians fleeing the crisis and the war, and I think it's something that as a county we should be really proud of."
Helping alongside Rural Media to create the film was Ukrainian filmmaker Lesya Pushyk, where together they based the project on the experiences, connections, and stories shared by the group involved.
Razom received funding from the Herefordshire Council and the Parker Johnson Prentice Charitable Trust to help make the final production come together.
Rachel says it's been fantastic getting to work with all the team, and the effort they've put into making it has been incredible.
"They've responded brilliantly to anything we've asked of them all the way along the project," Rachel said.
"We've been really demanding at times, meeting twice a week on cold, wet, dark, rainy winter evenings, and then we met every weekend across January until we did our shoot.
"It was really exhausting for them, but what's so interesting about this film is that it's very much seen through the eyes of these young Ukrainians, fleeing a conflict, but then being welcomed into Hereford in such a warm and lovely way."
Razom will be shown at the Borderlines Film Festival at The Courtyard in Hereford, with the first viewing now being sold-out.