Press Presents: Kherson -- Human Safari
Schedule
Thu Aug 14 2025 at 06:00 pm to 08:00 pm
UTC-05:00Location
1120 N. Dodge St, Iowa City, IA, United States, Iowa 52245 | Iowa City, IA
Join us on Thursday, August 14th at 6pm for a screening of Kherson: Human Safari with a Q&A to follow. This is a documentary shot during the Russian war of aggression, created and filmed by those living it. It captures the lives of civilians hunted by drones, displaced by war, and bonded by resistance. This film is a testimony of the spirit and grit of Ukrainians, and a call to global conscience.Kherson: Human Safari is an original documentary film created and produced by Zarina Zabrisky, an American writer and journalist based in Ukraine. Charlie Morris (Iowa City based) started volunteering as a social media manager for a Ukraine aid group in 2023. Through that work he discovered a network of small, spirited humanitarian aid groups that were doing incredible work. He will be presenting this documentary and taking questions after.
For more information on this film and what is happening in Ukraine, go here:
khersonhumansafari.com
Find Zarina on Instagram for on-the-ground updates: @zarinazabrisky
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DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
Kherson: Human Safari tells the story of a city torn—but undefeated—by Russian invasion, occupation, flood, and now, a new war crime: drones hunting civilians in what locals call a “human safari.”
I came to Kherson when it was liberated in November 2022. The joy and defiance I witnessed shook me. I moved there in September 2023, and the city became my life. This film is about the people who live through daily horror but the focus isn’t horror. It is what persists despite it: art, humor, dance, meaning. Khersonians say, “It will get better,” even as drones buzz overhead.
This is not a traditional war documentary. Each chapter—Invasion, Occupation, Flood, and more—opens with a dance sequence, choreographed under fire. The dancer seems symbolic—until her story is revealed. She, too, survived. Her body speaks when words fail.
Our team lived the story we filmed. Our composer was a partisan. Our editor cut footage as
Shahed drones flew above. Our DP’s home was seized; his archive destroyed.
Some buildings you see in the dance segments are gone now—hit by airstrikes after filming. The dance became a requiem.
Kherson lives. The city sings, drinks, teaches embroidery underground, and stages plays in bomb shelters. But every day more and more people are killed and injured and streets are ruined.
This film chose me. The war demanded it. If this work helps protect Kherson, I’ve done my job.
All proceeds support civilians and defenders in Kherson.
-Zarina Zabrisky
