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Who are you and what is MONOLITH?
My name is Ed Akselrud. I am a Canada-based Ukrainian documentary filmmaker, and you can find out more about me and my previous work on my portfolio .
MONOLITH: Power and Light in Ukraine is my first feature documentary about Ukraine’s massive energy system that is currently enduring a campaign of systematic destruction by russian strikes. As I write this, Ukraine has just experienced the most difficult winter of the war so far, with many regions grappling with blackouts of up to 20 hours a day for weeks.
Despite the circumstances, Ukrainian energy professionals are working around the clock to make critical repairs to keep the lights on for the millions of people surviving in these conditions, and allied nations are sending funds and equipment to help alleviate the crisis. Volunteer organisations and businesses are also working to decentralize the grid and build new infrastructure, including renewable energy and other innovative solutions. We are witnessing a critical historical moment where the resilience of a single, interconnected power grid determines the survival of a nation.
Although the film is being shot mostly in Ukraine, we are a Canadian production and all editing, music composition, and post-production will be done in Canada.
Why are we launching this fundraiser?
We have already completed our development and preliminary filming, financed by a development grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. However, the reality of film funding is that large institutional grants work on long timelines, and our immediate priority is ensuring we do not miss the history happening in front of us.
The film documents historic events and activities that are occurring in real time, and the footage we capture during this time will define the visual and emotional core of our film. While we are pursuing institutional financing and are awaiting decisions, we have reached a financing gap which I am mitigating by funding the ongoing filming out of pocket. We need your help to make sure we can continue filming during this time.
How will this money be spent?
Your donations will be used to cover immediate-term filming expenses, which include paying our crew, renting camera equipment, and travel and accommodation costs. Some expenses have already been incurred on credit which we need to clear, and anything beyond that will allow us to continue filming.
On average, each day of shooting costs about CAD$1,500/day for filming local to Kyiv (where our team is based), or CAD$2500/day when the crew travels to other regions for several days at a time.
This fundraiser is intended to bridge the current critical funding gap. We will close this page once the project is financially secure for the rest of the filming process.
How is this film being made?
Gaining access to critical infrastructure during wartime is incredibly difficult, but over the last year, we have done the work to make it possible. Our team has established crucial relationships and access across the energy sector in Ukraine and Europe, granting us rare, high level access to many important locations, activities and personnel around the country.
Our project has been endorsed by and is being produced with the support of numerous partners in the government, private and NGO sectors, including the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, state and private energy operators, various non-profits and industry associations, and the Ukraine Energy Support Task Force of the European Union’s Energy Community Secretariat. You can find our full list of partners at the bottom of this text.
These partnerships allow our cameras into locations that are typically closed to the public and the press. We are filming inside power plants that have been scarred by missile strikes, at the substations that act as the grid’s nerve centers, and alongside the repair crews who risk their lives to restore power. We have also established relationships with the people running these systems, from the control room engineers to the executives planning the recovery. This level of trust ensures that MONOLITH will offer a perspective that no other film can provide.
Our production team works with conscious operational security to ensure the safety of the facilities and individuals we film. No sensitive footage will be publicly published until the film’s release and with the approval of our partners, and marketing materials are carefully chosen and vetted for sensitive information.
What is the narrative and artistic approach?
In MONOLITH, the energy system is the main character, intimately connected to every Ukrainian, including the several key heroes we will be following (whose identities we cannot reveal at this time for security reasons). It is a complex, living organism that gives light and life to the nation. The film traces its evolution from its Soviet past into wartime emergency adaptation and toward modernization, and we are aiming to create a highly cinematic, auteur-driven documentary despite the chaotic conditions on the ground.
Our visual language is stark and contemplative, relying on the atmosphere of endurance evoked by Ukraine’s winter landscapes, the brutalist industrial architecture of the power plants, and the human warmth that persists despite the cold. Musically, the film will be driven by a score that reflects the tension and the pulse of the grid itself. We are weaving together the intimate, high-stakes stories of the professionals keeping the system alive with broader expert context to illustrate the sheer scale, gravity, and critical importance of this system.
What is the point of this film?
Our ultimate goal is to shift the conversation around Ukraine away from dependency and vulnerability and highlight the ingenuity, determination, and professionalism of the Ukrainian people. By showcasing how Ukraine is managing to keep a massive power grid running under constant bombardment, we are proving that this is a country of immense capability.
Beyond the screen, MONOLITH is intended to serve as a tool for diplomacy and future development. We plan to distribute the film among energy and international development audiences to encourage future investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction, and show that Ukraine is not just a battered nation but a future leader and proven example in energy resilience, and a partner that our allies can rely on.
Who are the people making it?
Our team on the ground in Ukraine consists of our producer Alyona Zhylun, director of photography Tanya Dudnik, sound recordist Viktor Schaslyvyi, and backup camera operator Kristina Lizogub. All are experienced professionals of the Ukrainian film & television industry. In Montreal, I am supported by our assistant producer Anna Semenova, consulting producers Lisa Roth and Manny Danelon, C.P.A. Michel Iacono, and post-supervisor Marie-Soleil Trudel. Our soundtrack will be written by our late electronic composer Patrick Haggart (1989-2026) and neo-classical composer Katharine Petkovski, and post-production services will be provided by Cineground. Please visit our website for additional details.
Is your crew safe?
No one in Ukraine is truly safe, but our crew is composed of experienced film professionals who have been working in these conditions all through the war and are intimately familiar with risk mitigation procedures and safety protocols. As this film is not about military activities, the crew is not traveling to especially high-risk or frontline areas.
Are there any rewards for donating?
We are focused on capturing this critical footage and due to the limited capacity of our small team, we are not doing a traditional reward-based campaign. However, we will aim to personally reach out and thank everyone who donates $100 or more. For donations over $250, we will contact you to share an exclusive 10-minute preview of the film (after security verification), and to arrange a personal call with the team, if desired.
What if you raise more money than you anticipate/need for immediate costs?
We will be continuing to film throughout the next few months, so there will be plenty of costs to cover. We will also need to pay our Canadian team, including for music composition, and for other production-related service expenses. I will not be compensating myself until we secure longer-term grant funding and can ensure all other production needs are met and all other team members are paid for their hard work.
When will the film be completed/available?
Principal photography is expected to continue through to late spring of 2026, with editing and post-production in Montreal beginning around early summer through to the end of the year. We hope to be ready for a festival premiere in early 2027, which will be followed by other means of distribution we secure. We will also be arranging local community and industry screening events in various regions. To be informed of any screenings and availability in your area, please sign up for our newsletter.
How can I stay updated on your progress?
In addition to updates which will be posted on this page, we invite you to follow us on Instagram and sign up for our monthly production update newsletter .
On behalf of the entire team, we sincerely thank you for your interest and contribution to help tell this historic and urgent story.
Full list of partners and endorsers:
None of our the below partners are financing the film or exercise any creative control over its' contents, besides approving shots used to ensure operational security. While we are working with some private enterprises, no explicit advertising will occur in the film. All support is limited purely to filming access, archival material collection, and eventual promotion/distribution of the film.