We Will Not Fade Away

Five Ukrainian teenagers grow up in small towns in a coal mining district. Like the teens the world over, they do the 400 blows, they fight against the boredom and the multiple frustrations of finding out who you are, and how to live. But these teens are in Donbas, where the war has been going on for years. Not only the region is ravaged by economic decline, but fighting rages constantly in the background – and sometimes much closer. They battle to find their way through the hopelessness and confusion: through drawing, photography, and music. Above all, through friendship. Then, as they dream of escape, an unexpected invitation arrives. How would they like to visit Nepal, and hike through the foothills of the Himalayas? Suddenly, there is a light in the darkness. They train hard to make this impossible-seeming dream a reality, recording their efforts in video diaries. As the situation in their homeland worsens, the threat of a full-scale Russian invasion looms. Can the hopes and dreams of these young people survive? A Ukrainian teenage adventure documentary and a tender choral portrait of Donbas’ no future generation in the midst of the war with Russia. Only those who dream live high!