Alisa Kovalenko

Alisa Kovalenko (1987) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker from Kiev, Ukraine. She was born and raised in Zaporizhia in SE Ukraine and her studies, which she completed at Karpenko-Kary National University of theatre, Cinema and Television in Kiev and Andrzej-Wajda School in Warsaw (Dok Pro programme), are on documentary and cinema. Alisa's feature documentary debut, Alisa in Warland, a personal diary amid revolution and war in Ukraine, had its world premiere at IDFA's 2015 First Appearance competition in Amsterdam. "Home Games" (2018), a social fairy tale with a sensitive female perspective about the shattered dreams of a young professional football player, was screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 and again at IDFA Amsterdam, with participations in over 100 festivals, as well as many awards. In 2018 Alisa directed and directed the production of Beautiful Game, a 10-part documentary series commissioned by Prague-based international network Current Time TV.

That year he became a member of the European Film Academy (EFA). After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Alisa interrupted editing of "We Will Not Fade Away" to join a volunteer unit of the Ukrainian special forces (AFU), on the front lines of the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions. He was in the trenches for four months before returning to complete We Will Not Fade Away. "We Will Not Fade Away" will have its world premiere at the Berlinale Generation 2023. Meanwhile, as the war in Ukraine continues, Alisa presented a project at the IDFA Forum 2022 based on footage filmed during the battle, with support from chicken & egg pictures.