Briarcliff Acquires North American Rights to Ukraine Doc Ash and Crayons

Ash and Crayons, a powerful documentary from Oscar-nominated documentarian Evgeny Afineevsky about Ukrainian children whose lives have been dramatically impacted by the ongoing war in Ukraine, has been acquired by Briarcliff Entertainment for a North American theatrical release on Nov. 20 — World Children’s Day — and robust impact and awards campaigns, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

Afineevsky, a Russian-born Israeli-American who has also made acclaimed docs about everything from the war in Syria (2017’s Cries from Syria) to the late Pope Francis (2020’s Francesco), has been a devoted chronicler of war in Ukraine for over a decade, dating back to 2015’s Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, for which he received his Oscar nomination, and its sequel, 2022’s Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.

Ash and Crayons combines verité footage and animation created by Ukrainian artists to tell the stories of seven Ukrainian children as they exhibit remarkable resilience in the face of unimaginable horrors, from catastrophic injuries to forcible deportations. An early cut of the film was recognized with the prestigious Cinema for Peace Award in Berlin, which was presented to Afineevsky by Hillary Clinton.

Briarcliff is run by veteran film exec Tom Ortenberg (Crash and Spotlight), who tells THR, “All of us at Briarcliff are proud to be associated with such a strong and affecting film, and we look forward to bringing it to audiences this fall.”

Adds Kevin Goetz, one of the film’s producers, “We are so thrilled to have partners in Tom and Briarcliff who share our commitment to bringing these powerful and inspiring stories to the world. Evgeny is one of the great documentarians of our time. This is a film about hope and resilience, about seeing beyond the ‘ash,’ so to speak.”

Afineevsky himself states, “I am so honored to share the inspirational stories of these incredible children. As they have said to us, ‘Even broken crayons can color.’ I’m also extremely grateful for the hard work of 100-plus Ukrainian artists and industry professionals inside war-torn Ukraine, support of the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine and the Ukrainian State Film Agency (Derzhikino), as well as the support and expertise of my producers, Kevin Goetz and Galyna Sadomtseva-Nabaranchuk.”