Don't Ask Me If I Killed () is a 2026 documentary film directed by Helena Maksyom, who handled the cinematography too. Filmed over more than a thousand days, it records her transition from civilian documentarian to reserve officer following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
An international co-production, the film premiered at DocuDays UA on 8 June 2026 in Docu/Ukraine, where it won the Main Prize of Docu/Ukraine Competition.
It held its International Premiere at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival on 15 August 2026, screening in the Competition Programme – Documentary Film 2026, and competed for the Heart of Sarajevo award.
Summary
The film through Helena Maksyom's perspective becomes a reflection on endurance and moral weight. It is her personal diary of the war in Ukraine, filmed over more than a thousand days. When the invasion started, she was just a filmmaker with no experience in fighting. She volunteered, learned how to help the injured, learned how to fight, and eventually became an officer guiding others through the same danger she once faced alone. She recorded whenever she can. Her camera became both protection and witness, through which she captured not dramatic battle scenes but the everyday reality of surviving: the faces around her, the tiredness, the rare jokes, and the quiet moments after someone was lost. The war kept repeating; new soldiers, new battlefields, new burials, and each time she returned. Her relationship with her mother, seen only during short visits home, became a fragile link to her old life.
Release Don't Ask Me If I Killed premiered on 8 June 2026 as part of the DocuDays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Docu/ Ukraine section, and was also nominated for Main Prize Rights Now!
It had its International Premiere at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, where it competed for Heart of Sarajevo award in the Competition Programme – Documentary Film 2026 on 15 August 2026.
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Result DocuDays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival11 June 2026 Main Prize of Docu/Ukraine CompetitionDon't Ask Me If I Killed Viktor Onysko Memorial Award for Best Editing in a Ukrainian Documentary Film Svitlana Zaloga and Helena Maksyom Main Prize Rights Now!Don't Ask Me If I Killed Sarajevo Film Festival 21 August 2026 Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Documentary Film Special Award for Promoting Gender Equality
References
External links
Official trailer on YouTube