“The Distant Barking of Dogs,” an award-winning documentary about a child’s life in war-torn Donbas, has been an international hit. But its effect might be even more far-reaching than expected.
Co-produced by Denmark, Sweden and Finland and shot in Ukraine, the hit film has been adapted into a 53-minute children’s version, “Oleg’s War” and screened for elementary school students in Denmark.
The documentary is part of the program developed by the Danish Film Institute and UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) to teach about children’s rights.
Ukrainian assistant director for the film, Azad Safarov, announced the news on Facebook on Jan. 28.
“European kids will be watching this film and understand what many thousands of Ukrainian children face at Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Safarov wrote.
The film follows 10-year-old Oleg, who lives with his grandmother in Hnutove, a village in Donetsk Oblast located just five kilometers from the front line. As others keep leaving the village after Russia invades Donbas, Oleg’s childhood is shaped by the hardship of the war.
Directed by Danish filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont, the picture was shot in 2015-2017.
According to the Danish Film Institute, the documentary is shown to elementary school children and is a starting point for the “War, Conflict and Comrades” program. Under the course, students also produce their own short films about conflicts.
Since it premiered in 2017, “The Distant Barking of Dogs” has received multiple awards and positive reviews from critics. It made it on the short list of the U.S. Academy Awards, Oscars, in the Documentary Feature category in 2019.
It was also nominated for the U.S. Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary category in 2020.
The same year, the film won the Peabody Award in the documentary section. The prize recognizes the most powerful, striking, and invigorating stories in television, radio and online media.
