Katerina Gordeeva and Manel Alías
From pain to living memory in Ukraine
Debate
Katerina Gordeeva, winner of the 2022 Anna Politkovskaya International Journalism Prize, speaks with journalist and former Moscow correspondent Manel Alías, about the importance of direct testimony in recounting the war against Ukraine. This event coincides with the publication in Catalan (Emporta’t el meu dolor, Comanegra, 2025) of her book Take My Grief Away (Penguin Books, 2024).
Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Russian journalist and documentary filmmaker Katerina Gordeeva travelled to dozens of refugee centres around Europe and Russia to document the brutality of the war. Winner of the Geschwister-Scholl-Preis, Take My Grief Away brings together twenty-four first-person accounts of the tragedy suffered by people who have been caught up in the conflict. With their accounts, the work explores the limits of resistance of people dealing with loss and devastation.
Speaking with Manel Alias, in this session Katerina Gordeeva holds out an invitation to reflect on the urgency of producing a critical, censorship-free chronicle of the war on Ukraine.
Presenters: Manel Alías Tort
Participants: Katerina Gordeeva