Temporary Shelter

Exile observed from within, Ukrainian lives suspended in Icelandic limbo

Temporary Shelter is a personal and observational documentary that follows a group of Ukrainian refugees living in Iceland during the early phase of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. The film is directed by Anastasiia Bortuali, herself displaced by the war and newly arrived in Iceland when filming began. Working largely alone and without institutional support, she turned the camera toward her immediate surroundings and the people sharing her condition of exile.

Set within temporary housing and remote environments shaped by volcanic terrain, northern lights, and long silences, the film observes everyday gestures of survival and adaptation. Rather than focusing on events at the front lines, it explores the emotional aftermath of war as it unfolds far from home. Voices from Ukraine enter the soundscape through recordings of sirens, missiles, and news reports, echoing against images of Iceland’s calm and immensity.

The documentary unfolds over nearly a year, capturing uncertainty as a lived state rather than a narrative arc. Moments of fear, grief, humour, and quiet persistence coexist, forming a collective portrait of people suspended between a past they cannot return to and a future not yet defined. Filmed primarily with minimal equipment and shaped through close proximity and trust, Temporary Shelter offers a restrained and intimate testimony to displacement, identity, and fragile hope. The film stands as a record of emotional survival, created before exile becomes permanence.