Studios DREAM FILM and A17 have unveiled the first trailer for ‘On Drive’, directed by Artem Lytvynenko (‘The Sniffer’). The film tells the story of four friends who discover abandoned sports cars in the parking lot of a shopping mall
The events of the film take place in Kharkiv during the full-scale russian invasion. After finding the cars, the protagonists set up a ‘racing arena’ on the grounds of a shopping mall abandoned due to shelling.
‘What began as an escape from reality quickly turns into a game without rules — with stakes, fame and danger’, the description reads.
The lead roles in the film are played by Eduard Poliakov (‘Mavka. A Real Myth’), Ivan Dovzhenko (‘Coffee with Cardamom’), and Iolanta Bohdiun (‘Doctor By Vocation’). The film’s soundtrack was composed by MONATIK.
‘On Drive’ will be released in Ukrainian cinemas on April 9.
About the film’s theme
According to the film’s team, the central theme of ‘On Drive’ is freedom and the choice to ‘feel life here and now, even when chaos surrounds you’.
Film producer Aliona Tymoshenko adds that racing was chosen as a way to explore the theme because it ‘very precisely’ conveys what Ukrainians are feeling:
‘It’s about speed, the desire to seize the moment, about not letting circumstances ‘put you on pause’. In war, it’s very easy to get stuck in fear and waiting. Racing is the complete opposite: movement, decisions, risk. And there’s something very honest in that. Because freedom is not an abstraction, but a state you sometimes create yourself. Even in an underground parking lot’.
While filming ‘On Drive’, the team wanted to show how young Ukrainians live during the war: ‘not only fears, but also desires, dreams, drive, mistakes, and courage’.
Find out more about filming in Kharkiv and the challenges of working on a racing film in our article, where the team shares their experiences.
