“TRACES”: A Documentary on Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War by Russian Forces and the Pursuit of Justice

TRACES, a documentary film by Ukrainian director Alisa Kovalenko, co-directed by Marysia Nikitiuk, has been selected for Panorama Dokumente at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), which will take place from 12 to 22 February 2026. The world premiere on such a prominent international platform aims to draw global attention to the issue of conflict-related sexual violence during Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The film is created and directed by Alisa Kovalenko (We Will Not Fade Away, Home Games, My Dear Théo) and co-directed by Marysia Nikitiuk (When the Trees Fall, I Am Nina), who noted that their collaboration became an expression of genuine sisterhood and mutual creative support.

Alisa Kovalenko also serves as the film’s director, screenwriter, director of photography, and one of the editors. The film was edited by Nikon Romanchenko, an award-winning Ukrainian director and film editor (Timestamp, Stop-Zemlia), and Milenia Fiedler, a renowned Polish editor and Rector of the Łódź Film School. The editing process was further advised by leading European editors Niels Pagh Andersen, Audrey Maurion, and Kasia Boniecka, as well as by American documentary filmmaker and editor Kirsten Johnson.

The film’s score was composed by acclaimed Polish composer Wojciech Frycz, who has previously collaborated with Alisa Kovalenko on her earlier films. Sound design was created by a Ukrainian–Polish team of professionals, Mariia Nesterenko and Maciej Amilkiewicz.

TRACES is produced by award-winning Ukrainian producers Olha Bregman and Natalia Libet, founders of the independent production company 2BRAVE PRODUCTIONS. In 2025, they also premiered Timestamp, a documentary directed by Kateryna Gornostai, at Berlinale — the first feature by a Ukrainian director to be selected for the festival’s main competition in over 30 years.

FILM AND PROTAGONISTS

The documentary film TRACES tells the stories of Ukrainian women — from Donbas to the Kherson region and the Kyiv area — who survived conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and torture during Russia’s aggression and refuse to remain silent. Through the story of Iryna Dovhan — a former captive, head of SEMA Ukraine, and activist who documents testimonies of survivors in de-occupied territories of Ukraine — the film creates a collective portrait of trauma while simultaneously opening a space for hope.

Iryna’s personal experience made her one of the key figures in Ukraine’s fight against crimes of conflict-related sexual violence. After surviving captivity in eastern Ukraine in 2014, she initiated the first gathering of women survivors in Kyiv and soon thereafter founded Ukraine’s first survivor-led organization. Today, she advocates for both women and men affected by CRSV during Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The protagonists of the film come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. Iryna Dovhan is a former economist and beauty salon owner; Olha Cherniak is a civil servant at a district administration; Tetiana Vasylenko and Galyna Tyshchenko are entrepreneurs; Nina is a farmer; and Liudmyla Mefodivna Mymrykova is a former Ukrainian language and literature teacher whose school was bombed.

“For me, this film is more than just a film. It is a continuation of my purpose — to ensure that the perpetrators will ultimately be held accountable. It does not simply break the global “silence”; it breaks it so loudly that I hope it will leave a clear and lasting echo around the world. After everything I went through, the most painful realization for me was understanding that Russia will never extradite the criminals, that they will never be punished. Over time, even those closest to me began to forget my traumatic experience. Only this film gave me hope that memory will not disappear, that our testimonies are now permanently recorded”, comments the CRSV-survivor Iryna Dovhan.

“Filming this documentary was extremely difficult, because each time you immerse yourself again in that horror. But together with the women of SEMA Ukraine, we were able to overcome our pain — for the sake of truth, and out of solidarity with those Ukrainian women who were brutally tortured and who will never be able to share their stories. For me, Traces is a document of Russian crimes against the Ukrainian people — against our existence, against our identity — and we must resist them. This film is our act of resistance”, says another protagonist of the film Galyna Tyshchenko.

Bringing women together in a circle of courage and mutual care, TRACES shows how personal pain can be transformed into the power of truth, justice, and solidarity. The film is both a document of war crimes and of the systematic use of sexual violence by Russia as a weapon of war in Ukraine, as well as a testament to the resistance and resilience of women who stand shoulder to shoulder.

Director Alisa Kovalenko is familiar with this difficult subject, as she herself is a survivor of conflict-related sexual violence experienced during her captivity in Donbas at the very beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. She became one of the first women in Ukraine to speak publicly about this experience and later joined the survivor community of SEMA Ukraine.

“After what I went through in 2014, I remained silent for more than a year and could not share my experience with anyone close to me — my friends or my family. In 2019, Iryna Dovhan invited me to the first meeting of women who had survived sexual violence and torture in captivity, and soon we became the first civil society organization in Ukraine to unite survivors of conflict-related sexual violence — SEMA Ukraine.

We spoke a lot about different forms of advocacy, and the idea of making a documentary film was constantly present in our discussions. Despite my understanding of how important this film was, it was not easy for me to take that step. After the full-scale invasion began, the de-occupation of our territories, and the countless horrific stories of violence we heard, the awareness of how necessary this film was ultimately outweighed my inner fears,” says Alisa Kovalenko.

FILM SUPPORT IN UKRAINE AND ABROAD

The producers established strong cooperation with partners in Ukraine and abroad, engaging not only financial support but also advocacy efforts and social solidarity around the film.

TRACES is a Ukrainian–Polish co-production. The Polish producers Violetta Kamińska, Izabela Wójcik, and Dariusz Jabłoński of the production company Message Film secured funding for the film from the Polish Film Institute.

During production, the documentary TRACES was acquired by ARTE France. The film will later be broadcast on ARTE’s platforms under the title SURVIVANTES DE L’INVASION.

“This is not only support for a Ukrainian team working under the conditions of war, but also an opportunity to be heard far beyond Ukraine and to address a wide European audience with a story that demands attention, empathy, and justice. For us, this collaboration means more than funding or distribution. It is a sign that the world is ready to listen, and that Ukrainian women are not left alone with their experiences. Their stories are becoming part of a shared European memory.

ARTE France has been our long-standing partner, supporting our most challenging and responsible initiatives over many years. At the same time, the film’s international premiere in the Panorama section at Berlinale feels like a great “home” for our film! We are deeply grateful to our international partners and to the festival for this trust and support,” note producers Olha Bregman and Natalia Libet.

In Ukraine, TRACES received several industry awards while still in production at the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in June 2025. Among them were an award from Kino42 cinema for a test screening of the film, an award for the directors from Suspilne Broadcasting of Ukraine, and an editing consultancy award from Rough Cut Service.

The production of the film was supported by SEMA Ukraine together with the Dr Denis Mukwege Foundation, the Polish producers Violetta Kamińska, Izabela Wójcik, and Dariusz Jabłoński of Message Film, as well as the Polish Film Institute, International Media Support, HIAS, and the Ukrainian Film Academy in cooperation with the NETFLIX FUND for CREATIVE EQUITY. Additional promotional support was provided by the Ukrainian Institute in cooperation with EURIMAGES.

“TRACES powerfully embodies the principle of ‘nothing about us without us.’ This is a rare and deeply survivor-led film — created with and from within the survivor community. The film shows the profound consequences of conflict-related sexual violence on survivors’ lives, while also revealing their resilience and the strength they draw from supporting one another. The Mukwege Foundation is proud to support Traces and the women of SEMA Ukraine, and to stand with them as they transform pain into solidarity. Together, we will continue to work to change how the world responds to conflict-related sexual violence”, says Apolline Pierson, Dr Denis Mukwege Foundation.

In Ukraine, the film’s impact partners are UN Women Ukraine and the Masha Foundation, who have joined in supporting the film and its social mission to address conflict-related sexual violence and to amplify the voices of survivors.