Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Filmed over four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, When It Started to Burn focuses on the civilians making great efforts to contribute to the resistance in every possible way. As the fighting continues with no end in sight, the mental impact of war becomes clearer, and lives are changed forever.
Following the journey of Kseniia, a Kyiv local who sets up a volunteer center while her children seek refuge abroad, we witness as landscapes are rendered unrecognizable and neighborhoods are abandoned in the Ukrainian capital. Yet as years pass and the war rages on, Kseniia must choose between fleeing herself to reunite with family or staying behind to protect what’s left of what she once called home.
After Academy Award-nominated Do Not Split and Emmy-nominated The Takeover, director Anders Hammer releases the third entry in his trilogy on global conflicts and civilian resilience with on-the-ground coverage of the brutalities of the war in Ukraine and the kindness of humans finding solidarity in the face of extreme danger.
Directed by Anders Hammer
Filmed over four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, When It Started to Burn focuses on the civilians making great efforts to contribute to the resistance in every possible way. As the fighting continues with no end in sight, the mental impact of war becomes clearer, and lives are changed forever.
Following the journey of Kseniia, a Kyiv local who sets up a volunteer center while her children seek refuge abroad, we witness as landscapes are rendered unrecognizable and neighborhoods are abandoned in the Ukrainian capital. Yet as years pass and the war rages on, Kseniia must choose between fleeing herself to reunite with family or staying behind to protect what’s left of what she once called home.
After Academy Award-nominated Do Not Split and Emmy-nominated The Takeover, director Anders Hammer releases the third entry in his trilogy on global conflicts and civilian resilience with on-the-ground coverage of the brutalities of the war in Ukraine and the kindness of humans finding solidarity in the face of extreme danger.
Directed by Anders Hammer
