"The war in Ukraine doesn’t stop at the front line. In addition to the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, the Russian invasion has also claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians. And many more have been driven out of their familiar surroundings. The war has destroyed homes, torn families apart and displaced populations.

In the midst of this wartime violence, a complex but highly effective relief network has emerged. Support for refugees and displaced persons is ongoing, as is the evacuation of older people living near the front, and the retrieval of the bodies of civilian and military victims.

Dear Beautiful Beloved is a careful and sensitive account of several humanitarian operations dependent entirely on the boundless dedication of volunteers. They receive refugees and guide them to train stations, help distressed seniors feel at home in bare reception shelters and drive through the country to pick up bodies, keep records and safeguard their belongings. Tirelessly they continue their work. There are moments of light even in these dark times, but they never last long." - IDFA

Dir. Juri Rechinsky | 93min | 2024 | Austria

"It’s a painful film, haunted by death, but also tender and moving, with a powerful message that compassion, love and resilience can be acts of defiance" - Guardian

"The Russian war in Ukraine turns houses into dust and the dead into numbers. In the midst of the ongoing invasion, new structures of care are emerging to protect those who are alive and recover those who aren’t" - Locarno FF

"Juri Rechinsky succeeds in capturing the essence of humanity in its darkest moments. Only respect and compassion prevail, in a world in which death and life come together at every moment." - Semaine de la Critique

"Something is lost, an identity, the point at which these women transitioned from people to simply being cargo, the soldiers from humans to numbers on a spreadsheet." - Cineuropa

"powerful, deeply compassionate.....Thoughtfully observing the intimacy that arises from human interactions—a glance, a word of comfort—he demonstrates that benevolence and humanity still exist, which is nothing short of miraculous in the midst of war" - Viennale

"Rechinsky clearly establishes a different kind of cinematic language" - Modern Times Review