Step by Step

Director’s Statement

Director’s Statement To me, this two-year journey of a newly trained demining team carries the spirit of the entire Ukrainian nation and with it, a lesson in the power of the human psyche to adapt and forge a path through uncertainty.

Starting only a few months after the Russian invasion, “Step by Step” bears witness to the first moments of civilians rebuilding their nation in the wake of war.

War in Ukraine radically changed the everyday life, dreams and plans of people across Ukraine. Serhii, a former environmental protection officer turned-deminer, says in the film “There is a line before war – and now”.

I arrived in Chernihiv as this line was being drawn and had the opportunity to document the process by which a diverse group of individuals would tread this common path to transcend uncertainty.

In times of crisis, how do people continue living despite the precarious nature of tomorrow? Of the next hour? The next minute? How do people cope with losing their jobs, homes, and family ties – the things that lay the foundation of our identity – and continue finding purpose, amid the imminent threat of war, of missile attacks and blackouts?

Their world is plagued by uncertainty – all the way to the ground they work on.

Ukraine is littered with explosives and mines, posing a physical and mental threat to the population. Since 2022, Ukraine has become the country the most affected by mines in the world, with an estimated 30% of the territory contaminated.

How despite all of this, do you find the courage to take the next step forward?

I was at the right place at the right time to explore these questions; With the collaboration of “Fondation Suisse de déminage”, I had the opportunity to document over a two year period, the opening of a new operational demining base in Chernihiv, only a few months after the 2022 Russian invasion.

The film testifies of these first courageous steps, in an estimated century-long journey to clean Ukraine from explosives.

Quentin Curzon