[ GEO ]UGLICH
[ Elena Chevysheva ]I'm not old, I've just lived a long time…
but I won't be getting any younger.
[ Elena ]I admire her, this Babkina.
[ Elena ]We should sing together, but how can I get to her?
[ Svetlana Chevysheva ]She immediately answered: 'I want to go to a Babkina concert'.
[ GEO ]SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA
[ YAROSLAV SELYUTIN, FOUNDER, VETERAN’S DREAM PROJECT ]They say, 'I just need to live till May 9'.
[ Yaroslav ]Some want to live until their birthdays, others till New Year's, but they live for this holiday.
[ VO ]A year ago, Yaroslav created a website called ‘Veteran’s Dream’, a project to remember and recognise the
heroism of everyone who stood up to defend their Motherland, and set an example of courage and valor.
WORLD WAR II FOOTAGE
[ VO ]The idea is very simple, the website has just two buttons: ‘Veteran’s Dream’ and ‘Fulfil
a Dream.’ Any user can scroll through the list of veterans’ requests and offer to help.
[ VO ]The dreams tend to be modest, to fix a fence or build
a greenhouse, an iron, TV, headphones, or radio.
[ VO ]And it’s a nationwide project. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yakutia, Siberia, Ural. It all started in
Simferopol, Yaroslav’s home town, but now, The ‘Veteran’s Dream’ network covers the whole country.
HOW TO THANK HEROES
[ VO ]Yelena Chevysheva lives in Uglich, and her long-cherished dream is to
see a concert by Nadezhda Babkina, a famous Russian folk and pop singer.
I've still got time.
God preserve us.
[ ELENA CHEVYSHEVA, VETERAN OF LABOUR, HOME FRONT WORKER ] I've made it to 90.
[ VO ]An application is submitted, and, in Crimea, Yaroslav gets to work on making Elena’s dream come true.
[ Yaroslav ]I was looking for a domain and entered 'Veteran's Dream' It turned
out to be free and so this idea was born I created a website
and then went to Crimea's Simferopol District where I live to
look for veterans myself. And I realised this help was needed.
[ GEO ]EKATERINBURG
[ VO ]A few Veterans in Ekaterinburg also needed some help, so Anton
YT ANTON SAVCHUK
launched his charity project to fix their apartments for free.
[ VO ]Once he’d collected all the money he needed, the first renovation
was completed. The project generated quite a buzz on the Internet.
[ VO ]In fact, all these tweets, re-tweets, reposts, and other social media blogs helped
spread the word about this modest but popular and kindly initiative far and wide.
[ Galina Sukhonosova ]May God grant you health, health, and health!
[ Veterans ]Thank you good people of this world
[ Veterans ]I thank you from my soul!
[ Veterans ]Wow, what good fellows! This is a miracle!
[ Anton Savchuk ] When the renovation's complete, there's always an outpouring of emotion.
[ Veteran ]My God, it's amazing!
[ Anton ]Hello. [ Veteran ]Hello.
[ Anton ]Whether it's your first renovation, or the tenth or the twentieth,
you always feel some warmth in your soul,
[ GEO ]EKATERINBURG
[ ANTON SAVCHUK, FOUNDER, FREE HOME-IMPROVEMENT PROJECT ] ...and that's very cool. [ Veteran ]I don't know what to say.
[ Veteran ]Oh my God!
[ Galina ]So, it's made of stone or something?
[ Anton ]I've long wanted to do this project, but you need money to start,
of course, I've been saving up for this project for a whole year.
[ Veteran ]And, who is this from?
[ Anton ]I've seen many times how officials come visit such people with
flowers, fine words, and cards. They make it a solemn occasion.
[ Anton ]But these people's flats haven't been renovated in a long time,
and no one's going to just come and do it for them,
so, I launched this project.
[ GEO ]UGLICH
[ VO ]Meanwhile, Elena’s dream request has been processed, and already yielded results.
[ VO ]A volunteer from Moscow has responded.
[ VO ]Today she’s heard that her dream might come true.
[ Viktoria ]Elena is a WWII veteran.
[ VO ]This is Viktoria, a veterans’ home administrator.
[ VO ]She helped fill in the Veteran’s Dream project form.
[ Elena ]Hello. [ Viktoria ] Hello.
[ Elena ]I want to do my hair up like in the picture, but I can't with the 3 hairs left on my head.
[ Elena ]All of us will live to that age.
[ Elena ]God grant that everyone lives to my age.
[ Elena ]This is my daughter, who's come to help.
[ Svetlana ]We'll get dressed later Go and rest for now… for half an hour.
[ Svetlana ]I think a dream is a dream, and a thing is a thing.
[ Svetlana ]A thing is something you use,
[ SVETLANA CHEVYSHEVA, ELENA CHEVYSHEVA’S DAUGHTER ] ...and that's it. But this is something she'll remember for a long time.
and brag to her friends about.
[ VO ]Lyubov Dgebuadze is the director at the Danko Social Service Centre,
she learned about the Veteran’s Dream project by chance and suggested that they join in.
[ Lybov ]Honestly, we didn't really think her dream would come true so quickly.
[ Lybov ]Elena
[ Lybov ]There was a volunteer in Moscow ready to fulfil her dream, although in a different form.
[ LYUBOV DGEBUADZE, DIRECTOR, DANKO SOCIAL SERVICE CENTRE, UGLICH ]Of course, we were happy to agree.
[ Elena ]When I'm in a good mood, I'm humming songs, doing things and humming songs.
[ Lybov ]It's nice that there are people out there who do good deeds for others.
[ GEO ]MOSCOW
[ Leonid Yakubovich ]Andrey! Hi, it's Leonid Yakubovich.
[ Leonid ] I sent you a text about the book but you haven't answered.
[ VO ]The popular Russian game show, ‘Field of Wonders,’ received an application from a veteran who wanted to be on the show.
[ VO ]That dream request was processed very promptly and the show’s host came by helicopter to meet Maria Blyumfeld in person.
[ Leonid ] When I learned she was 104, I decided if she couldn't make it to the show,
she'd at least meet the host.
[ Leonid ] She's still got all her marbles. She's sharp as a tack and speaks perfectly.
[ Maria Blumfeld ]It was wonderful. [ Leonid ] So, I haven't come for nothing.
[ Leonid ] I arranged for a helicopter to fly there.
[ Leonid ] I was absolutely delighted to be there.
[ LEONID YAKUBOVICH, PEOPLE’S ARTIST OF RUSSIA, HOST AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, FIELD OF WONDERS TV SHOW ]It will be a tradition now.
[ GEO ]CRIMEA
[ Yaroslav ]When I created the site that the project operates through,
IF YOU KNOW A VETERAN WHO NEEDS HELP, TELL US ABOUT THEM:
[ Yaroslav ]I wanted to create a tool for connecting people who have dreams,
[ YAROSLAV SELYUTIN FOUNDER, VETERAN’S DREAM PROJECT ] ...and people who want to
do good deeds Today, 150 dreams have come true, both material and immaterial.
[ Yaroslav ]Nowadays, you don't need to be in a certain place to fulfil someone's dream… just the desire.
[ GEO ]MOSCOW
[ VO ]We’re in Moscow now and this is Lera, she responded to the request and
volunteered to help Elena Chevysheva from Uglich meet Nadezhda Babkina.
[ GEO ]UGLICH
[ Elena ]These are the ditties I played and sang, but now what?
[ Elena ]I can't play anymore, I can't hear anything.
[ Elena ]My father was sent to the front the first year. My mother
was left with five children,
[ ELENA CHEVYSHEVA, VETERAN OF LABOUR, HOME FRONT WORKER ]the smallest was 9 months old.
[ Elena ]I had to help.
[ Elena ]In total, I worked for 43 years, so, I had no childhood.
[ Elena ]Here's my labor award.
[ Elena ]Couldn't you have warned me earlier!
Why? To keep you up at night?
[ Elena ]I'd have been willing to…
[ Elena ]Well, do I still look like a granny?
[ Elena ]Long live victory!
[ Elena ]Hoorah! Hoorah!
[ GEO ]EKATERINBURG
[ Galina ]When the war started, I was in 3rd grade.
[ VO ]Galina Sukhonosova was nine when war broke out. All of the men from her big family went away to fight on the frontline.
[ VO ]And she had to drop out of school and instead carry bricks at the Bolshevik factory. She also worked on a collective farm,
performing hard physical labor. During the war, home front workers
lived only by these words: ‘All for the front! All for victory!’
[ Galina ]We didn't know what dinner was
[ GALINA SUKHONOSOVA, HOME FRONT WORKER ]In the morning, you'd go to work.
[ Galina ]In the evening, you'd come home and collapse.
[ Galina ]I don't know how I survived.
[ Anton ]Today we begin our 10th anniversary renovation.
[ Anton ]Galina Aleksandrovna never celebrated birthdays,
[ ANTON SAVCHUK, FOUNDER, FREE HOME-IMPROVEMENT PROJECT ] ...so no one ever gave her anything.
[ Anton ]There was no money for parties.
[ Anton ]The bed is old too, isn't it?
[ Galina ]Oh, they gave us that Too. It wasn't new and
now it's falling apart. There are so many repairs.
[ Galina ]Do the ones you think necessary, at your discretion.
[ Anton ]I'm organising this project by myself. I'm now 34 years old and I have no
family or children. There are people who follow my project and are inspired
by it After all, you don't have to do renovations to help people. You could
do something else. The most important thing is that it makes you happy.
[ GALINA SUKHONOSOVA, HOME FRONT WORKER ]Oh, how beautiful!
[ Galina ]So much room!
[ Galina ]How lovely!
[ Galina ]How beautiful everything is!
[ Galina ]Everything's been renovated from floor to ceiling.
[ Galina ]All the furniture is beautiful and of good quality.
[ Galina ]After you left yesterday, I cried so much from joy.
[ Galina ]I don't know…
[ GEO ]MOSCOW, RUSSIAN SONG FOLK THEATRE
[ VO ]Back in Moscow, Lera has come to the Russian Song folk theatre where everything is set up for a video call to Uglich.
[ Lera ]Hello! [ Elena ]Hello, I see you!
[ Lera ]I see you too, hello.
[ Elena ]Elena Chevysheva from the veterans' home.
[ Lera ]Now we'll try to make your dream come true.
[ Nadezhda ]Hello Elena! This is Nadezhda Babkina!
Yes, this is Elena Chevysheva! Hello Nadezhda!
[ Nadezhda ]Hi Elena!
[ Lera ]She's a bit hard of hearing.
[ Elena ]I watch you on Fashion Court every day.
[ Nadezhda ]I'm very happy to see you, Elena.
[ Nadezhda ]I know you'd wanted to somehow come to one of our concerts,
but, with the current situation…
[ NADEZHDA BABKINA, PEOPLE’S ARTIST OF RUSSIA, MANAGER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, RUSSIAN SONG FOLK
THEATRE ]you know, it's hard to get to each other, but at least we can connect by internet now.
[ Nadezhda ]Well, here I stand with the Russian Song singers.
[ Nadezhda ]Today's online concert is for you.
[ Nadezhda ]We wish you a good mood, health, and a long life.
[ Elena ]I'd never miss your concert!
[ Nadezhda ]Let's sing something!
[ Nadezhda ]Am I to blame?
[ Nadezhda ]Am I to blame for loving?
EXCERPT FROM FIELD OF WONDERS
[ Leonid ] I just bow before you for coming!
[ Maria ]It's like a miracle happened!
[ Anton ]A lot of people ask for help on social networks, but it
isn't possible to make repairs for everyone. I honestly haven't
[ ANTON SAVCHUK, FOUNDER, FREE HOME-IMPROVEMENT PROJECT ]thought about the project's future yet. Of course, I want
it to grow and develop, but I don't know how to do it yet.
[ Yaroslav ]We mustn't forget that everyone shares what they have inside Russia is very large… and sometimes it's easier for
us common people with no
[ YAROSLAV SELYUTIN, FOUNDER, VETERAN’S DREAM PROJECT ] ...government connections to
gather 50 people and fulfil a small, cherished dream ourselves.
[ Leonid ]If not for them, this country might not exist. A grateful homeland
should provide them with everything they need, so they have nothing
to complain about at all. They deserve our eternal gratitude. Whether
it's in the form of a home, a salary, a pension… any help at all!
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ALEKSANDR PANOV
CAMERA OPERATOR VLADIMIR LIPATOV
PRODUCER VALERIA SENINA
VIDEO EDITORS SERGEY MIKHAILOV DMITRY BORZENKO
SOUND EDITOR SERGEY EVSTIGNEEV
TRANSLATOR ALEKSANDR PETROV NARRATOR DAVID A. WATSON
MOTION DESIGN ROMAN KONDRATEV EDITOR ALEKSANDRA ERMOLAEVA
DEPUTY HEAD OF RTDOC CHANNEL GALINA ARKHIPOVA
HEAD OF RTDOC CHANNEL EKATERINA YAKOVLEVA