The documentary Malanka and Christmas captures the celebration of Malanka just a month before the full-scale Russian invasion and the first Christmas in the newly de-occupied territories of Ukraine’s Slobozhanshchyna and Donechchyna. 

Dmytro Mazuriak is a Ukrainian musician and sopilka player with the band Kazka, who devoted 15 years to preserving the Malanka tradition in his home village of Ispas, Bukovyna. A craftsman of traditional Hutsul instruments, Dmytro returns from Kyiv every year to organise the Malanka festival in his community. Just a month after his last 2022 festival, a full-scale invasion began. By the end of 2022, Ukrainian forces had liberated much of Slobozhanshchyna and Donechchyna, though relentless shelling made life in these areas a daily struggle, especially in winter. To show solidarity and revive ancient Ukrainian traditions in these de-occupied areas, young people from across Ukraine came together to perform nativity scenes and bring hope to the east.