🇺🇦 With reports that the city of Kyiv was soon to be closed off I decided the best thing to do was to join the crowds and leave for the border before being stuck. Whilst it was a sad to see the people leaving their homes behind and taking their kids and pets with them towards an uncertain future it also showed the best of the people. Spirits were high, nobody panicked, people shared food and drinks with each other. It was humbling to be a part of it.
I have made plenty of films in Ukraine and so I will be making a sizeable donation to help some people there.
3 replies on “Leaving Kyiv On A Refugee Train 🇺🇦”
Dear Bald,
I think one of the trademarks of your video essays is that they are provocative, as all art should be. However, it gave me pause that you went into Ukraine when there were dire warnings about going in, and rode the refugee train on the way out. Now, it would be rather facile for me to declare that you took a child’s seat, and endangered lives, etc., etc. However, your videos serve a wider function beyond entertainment: you show the reality of the people from the former Soviet Union, through the lens of bus stops, rusty trains, and irradiated forests. You never promised us entertainment for entertainment’s sake. And yes, you’ve had lapses of judgment in the past (with Covid, with Alina in the Sahara, the cat… I could go on.) It’s the very nature of your videos to do throw caution to the wind. This is why we’ve explored so far, learned so much, and developed a consciousness of an otherwise forgotten area. You bring clarity to us. You challenge us to our preconceptions of the culture and the region. You show us what their life is like. And the only thing that you are guilty of, is of making us aware of what is happening. Soldier on, as time is short. Keep pushing boundaries. Keep showing us. And convert this army of indifferent couch potatoes and keyboard warriors into worldly, curious people.
Carry on Mr. Barld.
Your travelogue into that now war torn country is a genuine treasure. Those “places on a map” are now real to me and I suspect, thousands of others. Thank you so very much for bringing these people to us. Safe travels, Ben.
Slava Ukrayini! Hopefully this war won’t be any longer!