Songbird, a new short film set to screen at the Galway Film Fleadh this July, follows a Ukrainian child called Yana as she struggles to assimilate into her new Irish school.
Haunted by having to flee her home and now unable to tell her cailíní from her buachaillí, Yana feels lost until she forms a delightful friendship with Chloe, a filter-free kid who helps Yana find hope in this strange new country.
Director Viko Nikci co-wrote the screenplay with collaborator and children's author Eoin Colfer. Viko was struck by the headlines and images of displaced children following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Remembering the time when he started school in NYC after having to leave Kosova, Viko decided to make a short inspired by this experience, which is one shared by millions of children from countless cultures.
Viko, alongside executive producer David Collins and producer Eamon Hughes, made contact with many Ukrainian families arriving into Ireland and connected with filmmakers working in the audio visual industry in Kyiv. A tight-knit multinational team was created to help bring Songbird to life.
Although a small production, the film gave these Ukrainian directors, producers, translators and actors a foothold in the Irish film industry, allowing them to continue to work in a field they knew, albeit it a different country.
These filmmakers include, Anastasiia Manzhosova, a producer from Kyiv, Nadia Shmelova, a fiction director, Kate Melnyk, a film student now studying at IADT in Dun Laoghaire, and 10-year-old lead actress Evelina Soloviova, who juggled rehearsals with her schoolwork in Kerry.
Songbird was commissioned for RTÉ Kids as part of the EBU Drama Exchange and will be screening at Irish and International festivals this year with a transmission date on RTÉ due to be announced.
The film premieres at this year's Galway Film Fleadh, in the Fleadh's Shorts Programme.
