Journeyman pictures distributing; Ukrainian Love Story

The three part web series I co directed with Julia Kochetova-Nabozhniak, which was initially commissioned by Coda Stories has been picked up for distribution by Journeyman pictures.

The series has now been cut into to one complete film which has been embedded at the top of this blog post.

The story;

As war rages in eastern Ukraine, Dima, a former leader of an ultra-right group, and Tanya, a self-proclaimed anarcho-feminist, make an unlikely couple in modern-day Kiev. This is their bewildering story.

"When I was a Nazi, I was madly in love with death in all its forms", says Dima, a former member of Kiev's C14 organisation, one of the extreme political factions that thrived in the instability following the war with Russia. But Dima's experiences fighting in Donbass opened his eyes to the bravery of those he thought he despised: "There were all these people serving who I never thought could be warriors." In love and in an 'experimental' new lifestyle, Dima does the cleaning, laundry and cooking while his feminist girlfriend Tanya is out at work as a computer programmer. "If Dima could change his beliefs, that gives hope to other ultra-right people", says Tanya.

Hong Kong Wears Black

Originally published on Roar

The police violence in Hong Kong has intensified, but so has the militancy of the protesters. All dressed in black, they are ready for the confrontation.

Since early June, a huge protest movement has erupted in the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong against the encroaching rule of China. What started as a protest against a controversial amendment to the Extradition Law that could potentially see Hongkongers being extradited to China has since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement. The amendment that triggered the protests has since been shelved, but the protests show no sign of abating,

The extremely violent and disproportionate crackdown by the Hong Kong police forces have in turned sparked a more aggressive and organized resistance from the protesters. The movement’s militant “frontliners” have been inspired by black bloc techniques they picked up online watching videos form past protests in Greece and France.

October 1 was the 70th anniversary of the people’s republic of China. On this occasion, up to one million people came out to protest. Nearly all demonstrators wore black and the frontline was occupied by a black bloc of over 10,000-strong, ready to resist and fight the police. It was the first time that Hong Kong police shot a live round at a protester, taking the crisis to a new level.

Ross Domoney was there with his video camera to capture the day as it unfolded.

My coverage of the Yellow Vest protests in France

An extract from a film we are making, about victims of police violence in France, has made it onto the front page of the Guardian.

I also captured the moment where a policeman is about to shoot Yellow Vest protesters with a rubber bullet gun, only to realise one of them is his friend. The video got viewed nearly one million times on twitter.

You can view the clip here.

Bellow is a selection of short films that I shot in Paris amongst the Yellow Vest revolt.