In 2015, thirty-something French Bonnel accompanies a Ukrainian acquaintance to eastern separatist Ukraine and discovers the violent reality of a civil war. There, she captures the terrible images of a murderous conflict and a humanitarian disaster, as the Ukraine army tries to regain control over the Moscow-backed separatist territories. Bonnel travelled there three times between 2015 and 2016 – three two-week stays to gain the trust of the local population and film their daily lives.This is a unique firsthand footage from the war-torn ground, at a time few in the west knew or cared of the situation in Donbas(s).
Donbass was screened at Itinérances – Ales Film Festival and Amnesty’s human rights festival Au cinéma pour les droits humain. Praised as a rare and brave piece of independent war reporting upon its release in 2016, it was later dismissed as “pro-Russian propaganda” for exclusively showing the situation in zones under separatist control. Bonnel, who defends herself of supporting the Russian side and condemns the invasion, will travel from Paris to answer questions and explain her shooting conditions.
Born in southeastern France in 1978, Anne-Laure Bonnel studied production and film direction at Sorbonne University. She taught Audio/Video design and production for 15 years (University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne) and worked in TV production, before breaking out as a war documentary filmmaker with Donbass, followed by Silence in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, and Donbass, huit ans après in 2022. She’s currently editing her latest footage from the region, where she travelled for the fifth time in November last year.
