A House Made of Splinters

This delicately observed document of a halfway house in Eastern Ukraine, for children who have been removed from their parents, is gently transcendent despite its bleak subject matter. Following the lives of several of the children, the film allows its young protagonists to lead the way rather than imposing any preconceptions on them. Imbued with great kindness and made with a meditative beauty, the filmmakers do a remarkable job of allowing us glimpses into the children’s interior world. Despite the persistent backdrop of war and the violence of a fractured society, A House Made of Splinters makes no political commentary. Its portrait of these fragile and beautiful little lives is testament enough to the foolishness and destruction of the adult world.