February 2022

It was the end of February 2022. The month was coming to an end. I rustled several robots in a row: selection of films for my project on the topic of thriller, historical film, spy thriller.

I looked at the finalist films of the annual Oscar to analyze the best works, which films are now in privilege, what are the trends of recent years. Over the past few years, I have regularly done such analytical reviews. It helps me a lot and I recommend such trainings to directors and producers who want to understand the world of cinema and see the latest changes.

By the way, I post notes on my Instagram and those who are reading this post now will easily find me on Instagram @astra_production

The weather was getting better and I thought with pleasure about those days when all the barriers would be removed and I would go to a fitness club with my body that had become obese for two years.
The temptation pushed me, I planned the workouts ..

Finally, hands will reach the editing of two films to send to the festival.

I read the news, but did not pay attention to any details or changes.
Night of February 23. I open Facebook, as I browse for the night. One of the actresses from Kyiv writes: It has begun…started….
I didn’t understand what. I looked at the comments under her post, people began to unsubscribe to her that they heard explosions and the sound of sirens over Kiev.
Kyiv? The noise of sirens? Is it really … War?
This is the most incredible thing that could come to mind.
Can not be.
I quickly skimmed through the news bulletin. Yes, martial law.
The Russian army invaded the territory of Ukraine and immediately began to attack and launch rocket attacks on all territory, including Kyiv.
Life.Time.Fat point.No comments.

This is where the new vision,new life starts.
A new world. A new reality, which is difficult to believe in, in which one must live. Get used to? No, the brain refuses to get used to. It is taught to exist in the world, seeks balance, is not capable of destruction and perceives such changes hard

Trembling. The whole body was trembling.
I didn’t sleep that night.
I started writing to friends and acquaintances.
They answered me. I asked them again, hoping that this was a mistake.
No. It turned out to be a reality.
My beloved friends who have always supported me are now in great trouble and danger.
I did not fall asleep until the morning, texting with friends, following the news and watching videos that were published by news channels about the first strikes and destruction in the capital of Ukraine.

after a sleepless night with sleepy eyes, with trembling in my body, I went out into the city in the morning.
Like any person living in another hemisphere, in a completely different world, in a Canadian city of millions, reality cut me.
Two realities – the reality of hell, deaths and refugees, the destruction of cities and the danger of movement in Ukraine.
And children peacefully playing with their parents on the playground, young people hurrying to work, people sitting at the bus stop waiting for the bus.

The world has collapsed and there is no past.
The world is divided into before and after.

February 24,2022

How to create three short films in a year and half

Helen_Polishuk

Hi, I’m back and this is great news not only for me but also for you.

 

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So, my website has been updated and, as you can see, it has become more thoughtful and interesting

 

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I’ll give you a short tour to my website right away, and I’ll create a video late.

In the meantime, I will briefly tell you about the website. This is a personal site and there you can reed not only the first posts about how I learned English, learned to write blogs,how I drew and tried to sell through the website my paintings,how I shared my thoughts and reflections with you.

IMAG0071 my photo from 2013

 

Now I released  share for you news from the world of cinema on the front pages,in my blog and in my future posts.

Yes, I am a filmmaker, my last third of my life is associated with making films.

my filmaking's experience

my filmmaker’s experience

 

And here, on this site, I will tell you about the news from my world of cinema. Here you will not only hear an interview with me, watch my films, read publications about me, but you will also discuss with me on the most pressing topics about movies, even share your thoughts .

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Together we are strong.

 

So let’s go.

We stopped in 2020. Yes, it has been an unpredictable year.

 

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Suddenly, we became hostages of our own fears and found ourselves in conditions completely unknown for us.

At point A, where the last post stopped, my first film was still being created and I sat day and night at the editing. How much strength was in me then !!! All the past years, drop by drop, step by step, I went to say one day, tomorrow there will be filming. The script has already been written, the actors have been selected, the shooting scheme has been worked out.

But the insecurity  was sat in me.

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But I overcame it.

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The film was shot. I sweated on editing – I had not created films before. I had to learn a lot of new things – editing, color correction, voice acting. When the film was ready, I found a festival of children’s films in Kiev, wrote to them and prepared to fly to Kiev. But upon arrival, quarantine began, the festival was closed unopening and I was in quarantine for a month and a half. This was my first quarantine.

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Of course, since that period there have been changes that have affected not only me, but all the inhabitants of the planet.

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Sitting on the bed, closed from communication, I wrote a comedy with inspiration about the situation I was in, about quarantine and an epidemic.

With the increase in quarantine and the addition of my experiences to the script, the comedy turned into a tragicomedy, and the script had to be folded and finished, because I found a way to still return between the quarantines in Toronto, to my family.

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With a finished tragicomedy, with Angela’s useless short film, left without work, I flew to Toronto.

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And then that second and very interesting stage began, after which everything around me changed. Despite the failures, the second and not the last quarantine, I found funds and create a comedy about a dog. Why? I wanted to paint the tragedy and panic in society. I wrote a comedy script, shot and edited a film about Mimmy.

Mimmi’s Adventures,comedy about small dog.

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I sent out both films to festivals through the FilmFreeway  platform and my films started touring the festivals. You can watch the trailers of my films at the beginning of the website on the main page.

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When the films began to be selected for festivals and receive awards, I realized what the festivals needed and created the dream of every American to make a film about fear. Horror.

I created Fear.

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You will find a trailer for it on the main page too. Please write to me, you see the picture, the image of the video or it is not of high quality to you.

It is important for me to show you quality

 

 

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So one and a half years passed unnoticed.

 

And here I am again with you in point B (not at the end)page

Helen Polishuk

Toronto

May 2021