What We Do in the Opera. Documentary Feature

Description:

This documentary follows composers Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko as they create contemporary opera in Ukraine—amid air raid sirens and despite their own anxieties.

As the war unfolds, their artistic mission evolves, along with what they want to say to the world. The film follows the creation of GAIA-24. Opera del Mondo, an opera conceived as an artistic response to the ecocide caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The opera has been presented at major European theatre festivals and, in 2026, was named one of the world’s seven most significant music theatre projects by the international Music Theatre Now (MTN) competition.

Work on the documentary began in 2022. Filming took place in Kyiv, Rotterdam, and Venice, as well as in the protagonists’ hometowns and places of origin—Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, and the Ukrainian Carpathians.

Partners:

The film was made with the support of the ZMIN Foundation, whose funding enabled the filming of key opera scenes and major journeys, as well as the editing and part of the post-production.

The project also received development support from CFI and Suspilne Ukraine, including participation in the international EURODOC training programme.

Our information and production partner is proto.produkciia, the agency behind our protagonists’ productions.

The film is currently preparing for its festival run, with its Ukrainian theatrical release planned for early 2027.