Ukrainian grit on show in Venice documentary

For director Evgeny Afineevsky, there was no time to waste in showing the world how ordinary Ukrainians are braving the grinding war with grit and determination in his new documentary at Venice.

"Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom", playing out of competition at the festival, shows the country's next chapter of struggle following his 2015 Oscar-nominated "Winter on Fire" about the Maidan uprising.

Featuring footage shot as recently as August and edited right up to the eve of the festival, the new documentary has a palpable sense of urgency.

"If today we don't show the world what exactly is happening inside Ukraine... then we create a new crime," Afineevsky told journalists on Wednesday.

"That's why I felt an urgency, despite the ongoing war, despite the situation that's still on the ground, to bring this reminder," he added, stressing that Russia's "imperialistic ambition" would not stop at Ukraine.

The film shows ordinary people distributing food, collecting bodies, filling sandbags, attending funerals -- what the director called "an exploration of the courage" of Ukrainians.

An old man in Bucha says the war has brought to light "all the rot we have inside", as he directs a camera crew to the bodies of townspeople shot by Russians.

"There's a hand lying over there, if you're interested you can film it," he says.

Children feature prominently in the film, with 10-year-old Olya pasting rainbows onto the walls of the basement where she is holed up with her mother, feeding stray cats between the shelling, or Makar, 7, pointing out the immense hole in his living room caused by a missile.

"Who is suffering most from the war? Normal people, mothers, fathers, kids, elderly people... living day by...