The story of how a student protest morphed into a regime-toppling revolution is chronicled in Director Evgeny Afineevsky’s new documentary, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.

The film explores how a civil rights movement in Ukraine that started as peaceful student demonstrations supporting European integration, ultimately became a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovich. Unfolding over a period of 93 days in 2013 and 2014, nearly a million citizens mobilized to protest Yanukovich’s corrupt political regime that utilized extreme force against its own people to suppress their demands and freedom of expression. Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

On March 30, following the DGA Special Projects Committee’s Documentary Series screening at the Guild's Los Angeles Theater, Afineevsky sat down with Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan to talk about the making of the film.

In addition to Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, Afineevsky’s credits include the feature Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!!; the documentaries Pray for Ukraine, Divorce: A Journey Through the Kids' Eyes and Romka; the shorts Mandy and The Word Is Love; and episodes of the mini-series On Air with Dr. Harel. He has been a DGA member since 2008.