In Ukraine under the bombs (Swiss Press Video 2023, by Xavier Nicol) - Swiss Press Award
RTS-Temps Présent
Xavier Nicol
It's around 5 a.m. on February 24th. The Ukrainian sky is darkening. These are the first airstrikes by the Russian army. Producer Xavier Nicol and an RTS crew are scouting in Donbass, near the front line. Their objective: a report from Mariupol with the Ukrainian navy, when they learn on the web that Vladimir Putin has just announced "a special military operation." The reactions of their overnight hosts, Russian-speaking but patriotic Ukrainians, are heated and angry. On the way back, in Zaporizhia, they stop at the home of a couple of Ukrainian army snipers about to leave, leaving their twins, barely two years old, and two slightly older children with their loved ones. The report is first and foremost a behind-the-scenes documentary about a report in preparation, but also about the raw emotions of Ukrainians, on the front lines or in kyiv, alongside those experiencing the war firsthand. This conflict is also an information war. How do reporters manage to inform us? How can we separate fact from fiction?
Interview with Xavier Nicol
