This reflective film is dedicated to the dramatic life of the renowned Kyiv-based writer, war veteran and dissident Viktor Platonovich Nekrasov (1911–1987), author of the legendary war novella In the Trenches of Stalingrad.

The film explores in detail the complex relationship between an honest, uncompromising artist and the repressive Soviet system. The film is broadly divided into two phases of the writer’s life:

‘At Home’ — the Kyiv period of Nekrasov’s life, his love for his hometown, and his courageous participation in protests against the cover-up of the Babyn Yar tragedy (in particular, the organisation of the historic rally on 29 September 1966), which ultimately led to harassment by the KGB, searches of his home and his expulsion from the Writers’ Union.

‘In Freedom’ — the years of forced exile (from 1974), when the writer moved to France (he lived and died in the suburbs of Paris). Despite the creative freedom he found abroad, he longed for his native Kyiv until his final days.