A Ukrainian filmmaker who has moved to Colchester after walking 30 hours to escape war says he has found hope again thanks to a group of filmmakers rallying around him in Essex.

Daniil Strilets, 18, still has dreams of directing feature films for the cinema, despite having his original plans shattered in his home country.

However, his life is back on track again thanks to the kindness of Lisa and Mark Reade from Ardleigh.

They initially opened their home to him and his family earlier this year, before he moved to Dedham in Colchester.

“Lisa and Mark have played a big part with introducing me to local contacts after our traumatic experiences," he said.

"For me personally, I travelled with a friend and my girlfriend to the west of Ukraine when the war started and made it over the border into Poland, fortunately with all of my camera equipment intact.

"We were then moved to Spain, where we stayed for four months, as we waited for our visas from England to come in. During that time, my girlfriend and I were split apart from my mother and sister, which was very hard.

“But thankfully, we have been reunited again now. We are extremely grateful to Lisa and Mark for giving us back our futures and introducing me, in particular, to local filmmakers who are keen to help me develop my career.

"Through them, I have discovered so many new opportunities for making films in England. I also love the environment in the Colchester, which is so green and beautiful. It looks wonderful for making movies and is much nicer than the dry landscape in Spain. I’m now exploring plans to make films about my experiences in Ukraine and England.”

Daniil’s mother, Halyna Strilets, recalls the terrifying experiences her family suffered when they were forced out by the Russians.

She said: “Before we were invaded, you understood what would happen tomorrow, such as where you would go on vacation with your family and what you would eat for breakfast in the morning. Everything was clear.”

“But then everything happened so unexpectedly. At the time, my husband, daughter and I were miles away in the mountains when my son was stuck in our house in Kyiv. Due to the lack of petrol in the country, we could not leave to get home. It was terrible. Out of hopelessness, Daniil was forced to walk on foot to Poland.”

“Eventually, we found petrol and managed to get back to our house. On the way, we saw with our own eyes the horrors of war. Russian forces were four miles away from our home. Our defenders were simply around our homes. Artillery strikes and military jets made huge noises during the daytime and sleepless nights. We had to spend evenings in the basement of our house. After one week at home, I made my decision to leave the country and head for the U.K.”

But when she reached England, she was shocked by the help she received from local residents.

She said: “We are very grateful to them, especially Lisa and Mark. Their support has been incredible. And now my heart is calm that all my children are with me again. We understand what will happen tomorrow. We know what to live for.

"Here in Colchester, we have found prospects for developing our lives, especially for Daniil in the film industry, and we understand where we need to strive. Of course, we miss our home and hope that one day we will be able to return to our free land.”

Daniil has been taken aback by the kindness shown to him by the local filmmaking community, which includes offers to help him tell his story through a future production.

As well as being invited by Lee Lawrence, one of the founders of the Essex Collective, to get involved with a number of local film projects, Daniil recently took part in the shooting of a new music video with local directors Joe Allison and DB Morgan.

This production was filmed on board the Bread and Roses barge based in St. Osyth, with the band dressed as pirates and zombies. Daniil said this experience further boosted his belief in his own future filmmaking plans.

He added: “The filming of the music video for the band Forest of Fools lasted two days. When I saw the set for the first time, I was surprised by the huge amount of equipment that I personally was allowed to hold in my hands and even work with on set to film some of the action. I also used a camera to film what happened behind the scenes.

“I was very lucky to be plunged into the atmosphere of professional filming and be part of the film crew, where I learned how to work with high-quality equipment, meet the director, make many useful contacts and see filmmaking from the inside. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the filming for this wonderful opportunity.”

He is still studying film remotely at the University of Kyiv, where is tasked with making new productions. Although he is in discussions with a few local filmmakers about working on future projects, he is still open to taking on fresh opportunities.

Visit screeninnovation.co.uk/moviemakers to listen to a podcast about Daniil and how to contact him.