If I gave out an award for best use of a Putin voodoo doll in a film, the hands-down winner would be the incredible refugee documentary Mama’s Voice, written and directed by Ganna Yarovenko. The title refers to Yarovenko, a filmmaker in Ukraine, losing her voice twice: once to cancer and the second time to the Russian invasion of her country on February 22, 2022. She fled to Poland immediately with her children: Kyiv, her young teenage son, and Malva, her kindergarten-age daughter. They tried to bring her father as well, but as he is 81, he was going to stay put and take care of his flowers while the tanks rolled in.
In the village of Mtawa, Poland, Yarovenko is taken in by Kaja, a painter and singer who has five children of her own. Malva misses her father, Yaroslav, a folk musician who remained behind to fight Russians in the Ukraine. Yarovenko supports herself by making rag dolls to sell at craft markets. It is important not to put faces on the dolls, as they can become linked with those they resemble. That is when Yarovenko and Kaja come up with the wonderful idea to make a doll in the image of Vladimir Putin in order to join the doll’s fate with that of the Russian tyrant. They contemplate cutting off its little dolly penis, but then decide better to burn it off with the rest of the doll. This is what is done to distract oneself while everything you have ever known is destroyed piece by piece…
I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into this one. I hate war, and I avoid films about wars whenever I can. There is absolutely nothing about any war at any time that I want to see anything about. From the title, I thought this was going to be one of those pleasant songwriters in Tennessee documentaries that has a surprise appearance by Taylor Swift. I was not happy when I found out this was balls deep in the Ukraine Invasion, a war I particularly detest. Why the hell would I want to sit through anything with such a dire subject?
“…emotional experience of a war refugee, showing the extremes that are felt, even when you are living with a family as opposed to in a camp…”
Please keep all that in mind when I say that Mama’s Voice is a truly profound cinema experience that is as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. I not only tolerated it, but I am insisting that everyone as mule-headed as I am about war docs to give this a serious try. This is not an informative diatribe of dates and atrocities like a more teachy-teach documentary about the war. Mama’s Voice goes into the emotional experience of a war refugee, showing the extremes that are felt, even when you are living with a family as opposed to in a camp. Even in the most gorgeous settings in nature, the ever-hanging smell of destruction fills your face.
Yarovenko is an amazingly talented cinematic storyteller. Her timing is spot on, knowing exactly what to cut with what and when. She is able to conjure up great audience reactions as well as keep things unpredictable in what may come up next. Her eye as a cinematographer is near perfect, with more raw splendor caught than you can shake a burnt stick at. There is also the focus put on the paintings around Kaja’s house, which are literally hypnotizing, as is demonstrated when one is used to calm down a freaked-out Malva. But wait, it gets even better because the paintings get animated!
Starting off with a truly epic piece of cosmic animation and finishing with an even more profound cartoon, the paintings come alive to wrap themselves around this picture. Like the best documentaries out there, Mama’s Voice hits universal notes to become a fascinating portrait of previously non-illuminated sectors of the human condition. Passion and devastation swirl over a horrible numbness that grabs hold of you and never lets go during wartime. 2025 has been a crazy good year for movies, with Mama’s Voice leading the pack of documentary wonders. Even if it is not your bag at all, anyone who loves cinema will be majorly impacted by the war-torn majesty of Mama’s Voice.
"…Best use of a Putin voodoo doll in a film."
I watched “Mama’s Voice” twice. Deep feelings and memories of the first months of the full-scale war in Ukraine overwhelmed me like a tsunami. A mother’s voice. That is where every life begins — it teaches us to live and to love, soothes us, or speaks to our conscience. The title of the film is deeply symbolic. The first time I watched it, I cried through the entire film. I have known every member of Anna and Lesia Yarovenko’s family for over thirty years — they are dear friends. Yet hearing their honest stories about their deepest fears and pain on screen was like seeing the reflection of their memories in a vast mirror of the universe. The second time, the film gave me hope — that thanks to the enormous work of the Yarovenko sisters, the world may look into the souls of millions of Ukrainian families who, for more than three years, have lived with one wish: to protect their loved ones and their homeland — before the eyes of a world tired of watching the cry of Ukrainian souls on screens.
May this film carry the voice of Ukraine — the voice of millions of mothers speaking with love and support, and appealing to all humanity: do not remain indifferent; help peaceful life triumph over the death of war.
Thank you for a great review of “Mama’s Voice” — the voice from which every life begins.
My husband Alex and I agree whole-heartedly with your excellent review of Mama’s Voice. We were moved to tears by the profound humanity of Yarovenko’s vision.
Agree that it is an edifying and moving and deeply distressing story, but with a very sound heart. Congrats to the team of filmmakers!