Hamptons Doc Fest: In 'Soldiers of Song,' Ukraine’s Musicians Strive To Unite Their Nation

The war between Ukraine and Russia has been going on for the better part of 10 years. From the attack on Crimea in 2014 to the invasion of Donbas in 2022, the Ukrainian people have been fighting for their independence and struggling to maintain a sense of hope. Through all their struggles, they have found ways to keep their spirits alive and continue pushing back against tyrannical forces: national pride and music.

You can see inspiring stories of Ukrainian patriotism and artistry in “Soldiers of Song.” Directed by Ryan Smith, the documentary follows a collection of Ukrainian musicians talking about what they’ve seen since the war began and how they’ve used music to inspire their countrymen.

This is one of many eye-opening films showing at this year’s Hamptons Doc Fest running Thursday, December 5, through Wednesday, December 11. The festival will showcase 32 documentaries screening at Sag Harbor Cinema and Bay Street Theater covering a variety of subjects. After appearing everywhere from the Tribeca Film Festival to Charles University in Prague, “Soldiers of Song” will arrive at Bay Street Theater for a screening on Friday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m.

Speaking over the phone this past month, Smith said this technically isn’t his first time at Hamptons Doc Fest. He became aware of the festival when his cousin, Edward McGurn, had a film in last year’s program (“Rainbow Warrior,” which was about the 1985 bombing of a Greenpeace ship in New Zealand). This isn’t the first time Smith has made a film about the war in Ukraine either. He was a producer on “Who If Not Us,” the 2022 episode of “NFL 360” that focused on members of the Ukrainian League of American Football who were also fighting on the front lines of the war. While working on the show, Smith was sourcing the music for it from Ukrainian musicians and by getting in touch with them, he made connections to a different aspect of Ukrainian life during the war. One of the contacts Smith made during that time was Nazar Hravar, whose brother, Illya, was a piano player who volunteered to serve for the Ukrainian military when the invasion started in 2022 and was killed in action.

“Hearing about this story made me go, ‘OK, this story is something that people need to hear about,’” Smith said. “‘These guys are both super-talented musicians who both enlist after they saw what happened in Bucha [the Ukrainian town invaded by Russian forces in 2022] and they got sent into the same battalion. They’re seeing war together, and I just don’t know how they’re doing.’

“That was the genesis of thinking, ‘OK, we focused on some of these athletes. Let’s focus on some of these musicians who have so much to give to the world,’” he added. “These are the best of Ukraine, and Ukrainians are losing those people.’”

“Soldiers of Song” features a variety of musicians from different walks of life. There’s Slava Vakarchuk, lead singer of the rock band Okean Elzy who Smith called “the Bono of Ukraine” because of how popular and respected he is in his home country. Andriy Khlyvnyuk is the lead singer of the pop/rock band Boombox and whose acapella performance of the folk song “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow” in 2022 went viral to such a level that members of Pink Floyd reunited to record a new song “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” There’s also Svitlana Tarabarova, a pop singer whose songs have garnered up to 9 million views on YouTube. Smith credits Tarabarova for bringing “more warmth” to the film and being a presence that “picks you up and gets you to the next scene” after showing the harsh realities of life during wartime.

“She’s a mother of three kids, all who have been born during these 10 years of war,” he added. “So she also had a really important story to show — how is it being a mother while there’re bombs everywhere in your country?”

Smith said he went to Ukraine to start filming “Soldiers of Song” in May 2023 with former New York Governor George Pataki and representatives of the Governor George Pataki Center, which has been raising funds to support Ukrainian refugees. Not only did Smith film Ukrainian musicians, but also hired cameramen and field producers within Ukraine to assist with the documentary. Smith and his production team also collected footage from people on the front lines to give viewers a first-hand view of gunfire and survival. So not only did Smith and his team have to capture a nation struggling on camera, they also had to weave that and more footage together into a cohesive presentation.

“With a film like this, it’s a lot of piecing together different materials and taking stuff like music videos and incorporating that into the film to make it feel broader and capture more about the ability of music,” Smith said. “We used every resource available.”

Though there were tense moments throughout the filmmaking process, Smith found that the strength of the Ukrainian musicians wading through dangerous conditions was something to marvel at.

“All of these musicians have a love for their country,” Smith said. “Some of these musicians are very well-off and wouldn’t have to enlist, but Andrei is on the front lines. He spends a lot of his time in a trench flying drones. I feel like there has to be a huge sense of pride and responsibility for where this country goes that makes him go, ‘There’s no choice here, I have to pick up a gun.’”

Smith definitely felt the pressure of not just putting “Soldiers of Song” together, but as an American sharing a Ukrainian story, telling the story in the right way. He was especially grateful to have many Ukrainians on his production team helping him capture the nuances deep within the stories in front of the camera.

“These production specialists are really inspiring to me because they feel like this is their mission, creating stories about Ukrainian culture and exporting that to the world,” he added. “They power through all of those struggles and wake up and say, ‘This is my job; make something that can help internationally with cultural diplomacy.’”

“Soldiers of Song” screens at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor on Friday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m. For the full Hamptons Doc Fest schedule and to purchase tickets and festival passes, visit hamptonsdocfest.com. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.