We caught up with Ukrainian filmmaker Helena Maksyom at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, where her documentary Don’t Ask Me If I Killed screened in the Competition Programme – Documentary Film and received a Special Mention from the jury (see the news).

When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine shattered her life, Maksyom put down her camera and picked up a rifle, before eventually taking up both. Filmed over 1,000 days of war, Don’t Ask Me If I Killed follows everyday life on the front in Donetsk from the unique position of someone who is both soldier and filmmaker. Maksyom shared with us her experience of war trauma, what it takes to remain at least a little sane in an extreme reality, filming on the front line and the process of shaping this deeply personal material in the editing room.