Keeping schools open in Ukraine is an attempt to recreate at least some of the normal life they had before the war - until February 24, 2022 (and in some regions even earlier, in 2014). Without the interviews, narration and reenactments, TIMESTAMP provides an insight into how the war is affecting the daily lives of students and teachers. The film has a mosaic-like structure: it explores how a school functions in-person and online in these terrible times, both on and off the frontline, how day-to-day life is intertwined with constant danger. Despite the hardship, the film highlights the courage and resilience of a society that the Russian army is trying to destroy. Joining us is the director and writer of TIMESTAMP, Kateryna Gornostai.

About the filmmaker - Scriptwriter and Director Kateryna Gornostai was born in Lutsk in 1989. She graduated with a degree in biology and later studied journalism at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In 2012–2013, Kateryna studied documentary filmmaking at Marina Razbezhkina’s School of Documentary Films and Theater. She returned to Kyiv during the Revolution of Dignity to film the events. Later, she started exploring narrative and hybrid forms of filmmaking. STOP-ZEMLIA, director’s narrative feature debut, premiered in the Generation 14plus 2021 at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival and received the Crystal Bear Award from the Youth Jury.