ABOUT
SYNOPSIS
A soldier is sitting in the trenches on the frontline looking at the flame of his lighter. Later on, we see that the flame is no longer coming from the lighter - it’s coming from a candle now that stands on a table in a dark room where two people are having their first date: a man (same soldier) and a woman. We observe a short sequence of their romance, marriage proposal, childbirth, development of their family. Suddenly, an explosion occurs - it consumes the soldier. We understand that all the memories that he had were imaginary. It is a metaphor for the way his life could have turned out if there hadn’t been a war and he had his tomorrow.
PRODUCTION
If We Had Tomorrow was shot in Kyiv and Kyiv region by a crew of Ukrainian filmmakers. It was shot on Alexa mini in 3 days. The whole process took 75 days. The final version of the film was completed on 23rd August 2019.
The sound design was done by Aleksey Olshevskiy, color by Valentyn Vernyhor and VFX by Kirill Udovenko. The 5.1 sound was done in Dolby Premier Studio by Maksym Ponomarchuk. Both DCP and 5.1 were done at FILM.UA GROUP which is a creative powerhouse and one of the largest Eastern European media groups.
The sound design was done by Aleksey Olshevskiy, color by Valentyn Vernyhor and VFX by Kirill Udovenko. The 5.1 sound was done in Dolby Premier Studio by Maksym Ponomarchuk. Both DCP and 5.1 were done at FILM.UA GROUP which is a creative powerhouse and one of the largest Eastern European media groups.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
It was an instant thought, “A man, a woman, a child, and a dog”. And then by looking at the flame of the torch on the terrace, I started developing this thought further and thinking out loud “the lighter turns into a candle… fire, water, air, and soil”. Four elements – four characters.
I left this idea on its own for about a year. In the spring of 2019, I was studying at NYU London and I went to see Dorothea Tanning’s exhibition at the Tate Modern museum. It inspired me in various ways but there was one specific painting that stood out for me – “Birthday” (1942), which portrays an endless corridor of doors. It is open to interpretation.
This image got stuck in my head and I kept on thinking about this corridor of doors and what it meant. My idea was to approach this project the same way as surrealist artists painted or created their art, and so this film should be viewed the same way as a surrealistic artwork in a museum is viewed – each person should determine its meaning.
The main two terms that I used in my process were ‘automatism’ and ‘dreams’. I started to develop images in my head such as a hot air balloon with a bath attached to it, a passionate dance in the water etc.
In this film, the fire is the man, the air is the woman, the water is the child, and the soil is the
In this film, the fire is the man, the air is the woman, the water is the child, and the soil is the dog. The hot-air balloon is a clear symbol of love and connection being created between fire and air. The addition of water into a hot-air balloon is a foreshadowing effect to our next scene of love-making and child-creation in the lake. The four elements are not only the metaphorical part of the film – it’s also structural. We begin and end with fire - it is a circular structure. And, finally, the corridor of opportunities is represented by the doors that open one by one and showcase opportunities that this man could have had if there hadn’t been a war.
The Russian-Ukrainian war (2014-present) is a very important subject for every Ukrainian citizen.Therefore, I was motivated to find a soldier who participated in the events of this war to portray our man in the movie.
All different metaphors and symbols can be interpreted into different meanings by the
audience. The only thing that should stay the same is that in any scenario of our soldier’s life – war is an obstacle to a good and happy life. People should be able to have doors available to them: they should not be taken away by war.
SHOOTING PERIOD
3
days
THE WHOLE PROCESS
75
days
OF FOOTAGE
3,5
hours
dog. The hot-air balloon is a clear symbol of love and connection being created between fire and air. The addition of water into a hot-air balloon is a foreshadowing effect to our next scene of love-making and child-creation in the lake. The four elements are not only the metaphorical part of the film – it’s also structural. We begin and end with fire - it is a circular structure. And, finally, the corridor of opportunities is represented by the doors that open one by one and showcase opportunities that this man could have had if there hadn’t been a war.
All different metaphors and symbols can be interpreted into different meanings by the audience. The only thing that should stay the same is that in any scenario of our soldier’s life – war is an obstacle to a good and happy life. People should be able to have doors available to them: they should not be taken away by war.