Newly founded Australian company Tilt Media is co-producing a six-part documentary series detailing the lives of Ukrainian citizens and of some of its leaders in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Set to launch on the first anniversary of the military event next month, Citizens at War: A Year in Ukraine features exclusive interviews with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and his wife, Olena, as well as with men and women whose lives were turned upside down by the war.
Of the six one-hour episodes, there is Daniela Volker’s The First Ten Days and The Volunteer Army, Anke Lueddecke’s Women at War and The Siege of Mariupol, and Guy Pugh’s Zelensky and The Russians.
Charlies Coleville is series producer for the project, which was commissioned by ZDF. Pre-sales are also in negotiation with additional European networks.
Tilt Media, led by former Essential Media Group co-founder and CEO Chris Hilton, is producing alongside Canada’s Blue Ant International, Ukrainian production studio Film.UA, and London’s GTV Docs, with Hilton joining director Tilman Remme, Victor Mirsky, and Kateryna Vyshnevska as an executive producer.
The distribution and co-production financing deal was brokered by Blue Ant International’s Global head of acquisitions and partnerships, Lilla Hurst.
Hilton, who created Tilt Media in 2021 and has offices in Australia and Los Angeles, told IF the project was borne out conversations soon after the invasion with Vyshnevska, the head of development and co-productions at Film.UA Group, whom he has known for several years.
“[Vyshnevska] and I were texting about it and most of the income for their studio was coming from Russian-language dramas, which suddenly stopped when the war broke out, so they had a lot of underemployed people,” he said.
“I said, ‘Why don’t we make a television series and we can use your resources on the ground?’. We cut a sizzle from found footage, and then I went to Ukraine to meet generals and ministers and get the access, while also getting producers on the ground.
“From there, we pitched it and got ZDF on board and started shooting mid-November.”
With filming now wrapped, the series is in the process of being cut in London, after which it will be taken to Elements Post Production in Byron Bay.
Remme, GTV Docs partner, and creative director said he was grateful for the collaborative spirit of all partners and to ZDF for coming in as the main broadcaster.
“This project is unlike any other and reveals the heartache and inspiring determination of the Ukrainian people, a nation that has banded together to resist the military takeover of their country,” he said.