Director's Statement
In 2022, when the full-scale war in Ukraine began, my family was confronted with a profound personal tragedy. At that time, I was living abroad in Poland, trying to build my life and career, while my parents and loved ones remained in Ukraine.
Very quickly, the war began to take people from my family. My father went to the front. My brother, a defender of Mariupol, was captured and taken into captivity, where he remains to this day.
Being far away, I found myself observing from a distance how my mother’s life was changing. She was left completely alone.
Later she began to form a deep, unexpected bond with her close friend, a widow who had also long lived alone. Despite having separate homes and independent lives, they slowly began to merge their everyday existence — cooking for each other, spending evenings together, creating a shared space of care and presence. It became a kind of union, not defined by labels, but by necessity, tenderness, and emotional survival.
This deeply inspired me. I started to observe not only my mother, but many people in Ukraine who were living under the immense pressure of war, loss, and loneliness. I began to notice how, in extreme circumstances, the usual boundaries between people begin to dissolve. Social roles, expectations, identities — they all start to lose their rigidity. What remains is something much more essential: the human need to be close to someone, to not face the collapse of the world alone.
Coming from a post-Soviet background, where LGBTQ+ identities were historically silenced or stigmatized, this realization felt especially powerful. In these moments of crisis, connection is no longer about orientation or definition. It's about having another human being beside you, about warmth, care, and survival.
"Black Shawl" screenplay has won the award for the best Feature film project during Warsaw Film Festival in 2025. I believe that this story, while rooted in my personal experience, speaks to something universal — something that audiences around the world can deeply relate to.
“The jury awards the main prize to the film ‘Black Shawl’ for its deep emotional sincerity, remarkable relevance, and courage in addressing the fragile boundaries of human relationships. The project stands out for its uncompromising approach to themes of intimacy and survival in times of moral and emotional decline. With exceptional sensitivity and precision, it portrays the complexity of human bonds, transforming silence and pain into a moving cinematic language. A work of rare truth and urgency, ‘Black Shawl’ reminds us that empathy itself can be an act of resistance.”
Jury members: Kamil Chomiuk, Zofia Goraj, Iwona Strzałka, Michał Szcześniak
In 2025 “Black Shawl” written by Kamila Boichenko received the Polish Filmmakers Association Special Award for the best debut feature film treatment as part of the Warsaw Next program within the Warsaw Industry Days section of the 41st Warsaw Film Festival.
This short film is part of a larger story I am developing into a feature film.
I am currently looking for producers and collaborators who resonate with this project.
I am currently looking for producers and collaborators who resonate with this project.
If this project is of interest, feel free to contact me.
