Kyiv Hosts Special Screening of the Documentary “Main Hero”

A special screening of the new documentary Main Hero with the participation of the creative team took place on February 6 at the House of Cinema in the capital.

This was reported by a Ukrinform correspondent.

The film, directed by Myron Latyk and produced by Oksana Ivaniuk, tells the story of Ukrainian actors who, from the first days of Russia’s full-scale war, left the stage and joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the director, the film’s main message is: “Five actors. About war. About death. About life.” He added that the film was not intended to dramatize events but, on the contrary, sought to present life-affirming stories of the protagonists and their reflections on identity and the role of culture during wartime.

“I feel that everyone is now living in their own information ‘bubble,’ and with our film I wanted to expand these ‘bubbles’ so that we could all communicate. That’s why we tried to invite as many different people as possible — people who usually don’t even appear in the same Facebook news feed. And when we started working with the guys, meanings began to emerge. Probably, our film is about meanings. We made a film in which we all spoke the same language — a language that is important to hear and to understand, that we all need to communicate. And closer to the end of the film, you will understand what we need to do in order to win,” Latyk said during the presentation.

Work on Main Hero lasted five months. Filming took place at the front line, where the team observed the real-life realities of Ukrainian servicemen. Initially, the filmmakers planned to involve about 30 actors who are currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but in the final version viewers will see the stories of five actors: Oleh Ivanytsia (“Diez”), senior soldier, 412th Brigade “Nemesis”; Volodymyr Kanivets (“West”), sergeant, 3rd Separate Assault Brigade; Daniil Mireshkin (“Culture”), senior lieutenant, 12th Brigade “Azov”; Volodymyr Rashchuk (“Actor”), captain, “Rubizh” Brigade, “Svoboda” Battalion; and Oleh Shcherbyna (“Hare”), chief sergeant, 5th Separate Kyiv Assault Brigade.

According to Myron Latyk, the idea for the film came from producer Oksana Ivaniuk, who had long wanted to bring this project to life.

“For me, this film was personally important, because in 2022 we were reflecting on how much we had lost and how we could survive, but today I wanted to talk about how we will win,” Ivaniuk emphasized.

Actor and serviceman Oleh Ivanytsia, who attended the special screening, shared his memories of the first days after the full-scale invasion in 2022, when he saw huge lines at military enlistment offices and met familiar faces from the film industry.

“I saw a lighting technician from one project standing in line, and later at the front I met actors, directors, and others. And when we met, people often said to me: ‘Oh, you’re an actor — and I served with such-and-such a screenwriter or producer.’ So I am very proud of my industry and of the people of cinema!” Ivanytsia stressed.

Actor and serviceman Volodymyr Rashchuk noted before the special screening that when he was invited to take part in the Main Hero project, the first thing he asked was who his partners would be — and he was very pleased with the answer.

“All these guys on screen were, first of all, good actors even before the full-scale war began, and second, very worthy people who proved on the battlefield what it means to be a real man and a true Ukrainian warrior,” Rashchuk said.

After the screening, film critic Serhii Trymbach described the genre of the film as a cheerful heroic epic: “When I watched this film, I got immense pleasure from seeing five intelligent, cheerful people speaking freely and openly. You are wonderful.”

The film was created with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

As reported by Ukrinform, a closed screening of the documentary Omega also took place in Kyiv.