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The ballroom boy with burns who inspired a film

Luxmy Gopal
BBC News
Reuters Roman Oleksiv, wearing a purple burns mask, white shirt and bow tie, dances with girl wearing purple. Many other dancing couples are behind themReuters
Roman Oleksiv is dancing again after a year of skin grafts and more than 30 surgeries

An aspiring ballroom dancer, who was seven when he was injured by a bomb in his native Ukraine, has become the subject of an award-winning London film.

Romchyk is the true story of Roman Oleksiv, who was badly burned in a Russian missile strike in July 2022 which also killed his mother.

The movie was filmed by students at Goldsmiths, University of London, in and around their campus in New Cross.

It was shown to the Pope during the Vatican's global summit looking into protecting children from war.

Anna Butrowska The Pope, surrounded by people, looks at a laptop being held by a man beside his wheelchairAnna Butrowska
Pope Francis reportedly "really engaged with the film"

The film was the brainchild of Kostiantyn Bidnenko, who proposed making a short piece about Roman to his fellow Goldsmiths MA students.

It examines the boy's recovery and attempts to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional dancer.

"I saw a news article about what happened to Roman," Mr Bidnenko said.

"For me, he became a symbol of all children who suffer because of war."

Kostiantyn Bidnenko wearing a hat looks at the camera with red seats behind him
Kostiantyn Bidnenko said Roman and his father liked Romchyk

Lara Kozah, who was also part of the student production team, said: "It was a challenge to convincingly transform London into Ukraine for the filming.

"We used a nearby park for the outdoor scenes. We repurposed a classroom for the hospital scenes.

"We built a bedroom in a studio from scratch."

A local Ukrainian society helped them cast the actors.

Lara Kozah smiles at the camera with red seats behind her
Lara Kozah wants to show the impact of war on children

They met the Pope to show him the film during the Vatican's International Summit on Children's Rights in early February.

Ms Kozah said it was a "surreal experience" and an honour.

"The Holy Father really engaged with the film," she said.

"We want to show this story worldwide to show people what the real consequences of war are for children."

Sarah Hosney The actor playing Roman Oleksiv in white shirt, black shoes and trousers and blue gloves and maskSarah Hosney
Ilya Bondarenko stars as Roman Oleksiv in the film

Romchyk won an award at the Cambria Film Festival in California, and is being entered into other international short film festivals.

Mr Bidnenko said: "The biggest award for me is that Roman and his father really liked this film and the careful way we handled his story."

Additional reporting by Clifford Thompson

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