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.

Anna and her metropolitan boyfriend Yurko, come to visit the girl's parents in a small Ukrainian village in the summer. At the Ivan Kupala celebration, a local girl named Ivanka, called Morena, puts her eye on Yurka and decides to beat him at Anna.

Strange and even mystical circumstances start to happen to lovers after meeting Morena. The conflict between the girls is intensifying — their relationship turns into a real war that leaves a trail of blood. This enmity will forever change the measured rural life.