Lesia Diak's Dad's Lullaby, a Ukraine-Romania-Croatia co-production, is set to have its Romanian premiere at the One World Romania International Documentary and Human Rights Film Festival, set to take place in Bucharest between April 4 and April 13.

The feature-length documentary is directed by Lesia Diak and produced by Diak and Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan and Elena Martin, through the production company Filmways.

The film follows Ukrainian soldier Serihy Zinchuk as he returns home after three years on the Eastern front and struggles to reconnect with his wife and three sons.

"Dad's Lullaby " is a story that needs to be told now and brought to the widest possible audience as soon as possible because it speaks about the consequences of war. It is not a story about war itself but about the division and damage that war causes in people's lives. It is a story that invites us to stop for a moment and reflect on these tense and uncertain times we live in," producer Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan explains.

Lesia Diak is a Ukrainian film director and producer. Her short films, which have been selected at various international film festivals, explore authentic human connections, trauma and healing, and inner conflicts. She founded the film production company DramaFree, which produced her debut feature documentary, Dad's Lullaby. She has a professional background in Communication, and in 2022 she graduated from DocNomads, an international master's program in documentary filmmaking. She lives and works in Lisbon and Kyiv.

Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan is a film producer and a member of AMPAS/Oscar. She is the producer of Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc's Tata, which was selected at Toronto IFF 2024; of Vlad Petri's Between Revolutions, the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at Berlinale 2023; and of Radu Ciorniciuc's documentary Acasă/ My home,  winner of the Special Jury Award for Cinematography at Sundance. She was a delegated producer for Adina Pintilie's Berlinale winner Touch Me Not, and co-producer for Ilinca Călugăreanu's Chuck Norris vs Communism. She is the director of feature-length documentaries such as A Mere Breath, winner of the Best Doc award at Sarajevo IFF, and Best Doc at CEE Vienna IFF.

Elena Martin is a film producer with a BA in screenwriting and an MA in film production from the National University of Theater and Film (UNATC) in Bucharest. She is an alumna of CineLink Producers Lab, East-West Talent Lab, and Ex Oriente Film and Series. She has been part of projects such as Acasă, My Home, Timebox (directed by Nora Agapi), and Between Revolutions.

simona@romania-insider.com