A hauntingly beautiful and defiant testament to human resilience, Traces follows activist Iryna Dovhan as she traverses de-occupied territories in Ukraine to document the unspeakable. Moving beyond a mere record of war crimes, the narrative centres on a collective of women who have survived conflict-related sexual violence and torture. Through Dovhan’s empathetic lens, the harrowing weight of individual trauma is transformed into a “circle of courage,” where shared pain becomes a powerful instrument for truth and justice. This unadorned, urgent work of cinema demonstrates that the act of testimony is itself a radical form of resistance against silence imposed by aggression. By capturing the profound solidarity of these survivors standing side by side, the documentary offers a moving meditation on the possibility of hope amid devastation. A provocative call to witness the strength of women reclaiming their agency, the film proves that the loudest voice opposing war is the one that refuses to be silenced. Gugi Gumilang