Ne khvylyuysya, dveri vidchynyatsya (2019) by Oksana Karpovych

For her first feature, Oksana Karpovych adopts a prolific documentary sub-genre, the train film, to take the pulse of Ukraine, her native country.

Shot over summer and winter seasons on the elektrychka, a typical Soviet commuter train that travels between Kyiv and several small provincial towns, Don’t Worry, The Doors Will Open invites us to share a ride with working-class, mostly marginalised passengers and vendors. Following a number of people and families from one grimy wagon to another, from station to station, we are immersed in their everyday struggles and learn about the dilemmas of building a new post-revolutionary identity. Don’t Worry, The Doors Will Open is an atmospheric and intensely human vérité portrait of Ukrainian society on the move.