At the beginning of the Netflix Oscar-contending short documentary Camp Courage, young Milana Abdurashytova takes out paper and makers and draws what she calls “a home of my dreams.” It’s a lovely cottage on a hill, with clouds dotting a sky of blue.
Her real home, in Mariupol, Ukraine lies in ruins like so much of that city and the country, pulverized by Russia bombs and shells.
Milana and her grandmother Olga were able to escape Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and take refuge in Slovakia.
But escaping the trauma of war is another matter. In the film directed by Max Lowe, Milana gets the opportunity to participate in a week-long camp in the peaks surrounding Piesendorf, Austria, joining other Ukrainian kids who have endured shattering loss from the brutal conflict.
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