In 2022, a young Ukrainian girl named Milana traveled with her grandmother, Olga, to a week-long summer camp in the Austrian Alps. It wasn’t a typical camping trip, though — the pair were refugees of the Russia-Ukraine War, and the camp hosted other families affected by the long shadows of the conflict with Russia. Milana and Olga’s journey is documented in Camp Courage, a new documentary short from director Max Lowe (Torn, Adventure Not War).
“I’m so incredibly excited to premiere this film at the Camden International Film Festival and to see where it goes from here in revealing the human impact of the Russian war in Ukraine,” Lowe tells Tudum. “And the resilience and courage of those impacted by its cruelty as they navigate the winding and unknown climb before them.”
In its 31-minute run time, Milana and Olga push themselves to meet the camp’s mountainous terrain with bravery and hope, and the film reaches an emotional peak when Milana is faced with the prospect of overcoming her fear and climbing the final summit. Though the conflict in Ukraine looms large over Milana and Olga’s experience, Camp Courage isn’t about the war itself — instead, it’s about the quiet resilience of the families who have to figure out how to rebuild in its midst and in its wake.
Produced by Marilyn Ness and Katy Chevigny and edited by Andrey Alistratov, Camp Courage will be available to stream on Netflix globally on Oct. 15.
