The Producers

Producer – Leslie Knott

Leslie Knott is an Academy award nominated filmmaker and journalist working from some of the world's most hostile areas of conflict and post-conflict.

In 2004 she set up Radio Quyaash, a women-managed radio station in northern Afghanistan. Her first documentary, “Out of the Ashes” (BBC Storyville) followed the story of the Afghan cricket team’s meteoric rise from refugee camps to the World Cup. In 2014 she worked on “The Last Caliphate," a documentary investigating the life of Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.

In 2012, Leslie set up Tiger Nest Films with Clementine Malpas. Their first film,“With This Breath I Fly,” follows two women imprisoned in Afghanistan for moral crimes. It's won over 12 Best International documentary awards this year on the festival circuit.

She leans into the more difficult underreported stories of our time, and tells them with truth, humanity, empathy and if possible, humour.

Director – Sean Langan

Sean Langan is a Bafta-nominated British journalist and documentary film-maker. Langan works in dangerous and volatile situations including environments noted for war, conflict and civil unrest. His films pay particular attention to under-reported stories and perspectives from the 'other side' of conflict, which has brought him in front of Hamas and the Taliban, among others.

Making The Film

Sean on the front line

Sean and his local fixer Sasha embark on a road trip through Russia’s heart of darkness: the Russian-occupied Donbas, starting in Donetsk, where he’s greeted with suspicion. But this remarkable film also shows the human face of the other side of this war - civilians living under siege, young students and an old babushkas who invite him for tea, coffee and pickles.

Interviewing Special Forces

Sean witnesses the lethal reality of this war, where drones loiter threateningly over First World War-style trenches. He meets Russian special forces who threaten to eat his liver and mercenaries who have seen action in Bucha. He captures what life is like for those fighting, and for those civilians who’ve been caught up in conflict in Eastern Ukraine’s conflict for the past decade.