A powerful documentary film
Ashley Matkowsky
Director - Cinematographer - Editor
Ashley is an independent filmmaker and visual storyteller from Queens, New York, specializing in immersive, avant-garde documentary cinema. She studied film in Denver, Colorado, and later taught at the Denver School of the Arts, focusing on cinematic theory and production. An award-winning director, writer, producer, and editor, she has developed a distinct filmmaking style that blends vérité realism with experimental visual language.
In 2022, Matkowsky embedded herself in Ukraine at the onset of war, launching the beginning of her debut feature documentary, Why We Went. Filming on Super 8, digital, GoPro, and iPhone, she captured the raw, unfiltered experiences of foreign volunteers and Ukrainian fighters while uncovering her own Slavic heritage. Her work challenges traditional war narratives, merging structured storytelling with lucid, dreamlike sequences that reflect the fragmented reality of combat.
With Why We Went, Matkowsky introduces a groundbreaking approach to war documentaries—one that is both immediate and deeply personal, offering a visceral, multi-perspective exploration of identity, sacrifice, and the human cost of conflict.
The
Story
At its core, Why We Went is a deeply personal and harrowing exploration of war, identity, and sacrifice, told through the lives of foreign volunteers who traveled to Ukraine to fight against Russia’s invasion. It is not a traditional war documentary—it is an intimate, visceral, and fragmented reflection of modern warfare, seen through the eyes of those who left everything behind to risk their lives in a battle that was not their own.
The primary story arcs revolve around five key characters:
Taylor ("Cognac"), a 54-year-old former U.S. Army Ranger who has fought in multiple wars but finds himself drawn to Ukraine, expecting to die. His arc follows his transformation from hardened warrior to father and husband, only to be met with unimaginable loss when his Ukrainian wife dies by postpartum suicide. He is now fighting for custody of their son, who remains in Ukraine.
Chase, a young American who, after struggling with addiction, finds a renewed sense of purpose in Ukraine. However, when he returns home on leave, he overdoses on a fentanyl-laced pill he is told is Percocet and dies. His story is continued through Jonna, his mother, who is left grappling with the loss of her son and the stark reality that war, for him, was a form of salvation—until it wasn’t. Was the real war for him at home?
Steven ("Stifler"), a South African sniper who barely survives a bullet wound to the face, embodies the paradox of war: heroism and self-destruction. His love story with Ashley, the filmmaker, offers a rare moment of tenderness amidst violence. Together, they conceive a son, bringing an entirely new dimension to the film:
What does it mean to create life in the midst of war?
Ashley, as both filmmaker and participant, serves as the connective tissue between these stories. What began as an attempt to document a war evolved into a personal odyssey of self-discovery, love, and loss. Her journey is shaped by the people she meets, the battles she witnesses, and the ultimate realization of her own Ukrainian identity, forged in the land of her ancestors.
Alongside these central figures, the film features a broader cast of Ukrainian soldiers and foreign fighters, some of whom survive, while half of those captured on camera are later killed in battle. Their fleeting presence in the film is both haunting and profound, a stark reminder of war’s indiscriminate nature.
Letter from the filmmaker...
"As an avant-garde filmmaker, I knew I wanted to capture the essence of my slavic roots through raw film. When my hiker friends decided to take up arms in Kyiv after the invasion of Russia, I couldn’t stay home and watch from afar. I was already invested in a story that was waiting to be told. In the two years I spent at the frontlines, I learned more about community, identity, trauma, loss, healing, and what it means to be human than anywhere else. I would be doing a disservice in not sharing what I learned and experienced through such a raw, visceral depiction of war and humanity that has never before been seen. The stories of the ones we lost and the ones still pushing on must be told."
​- Ash
Stylistic
Approach
The artistic vision for Why We Went is rooted in both structured documentary storytelling and experimental, immersive filmmaking, reflecting the chaotic, surreal nature of modern warfare. While the film follows a clear narrative throughline, it also embraces fragmented, dreamlike sequences—evoking what it truly feels like to be on the front lines.
Visually, the film blends multiple formats: Super 8 film, digital, GoPro, and iPhone footage. This diverse mix creates an immediate, intimate experience—Super 8 lending a raw, nostalgic texture, digital offering clarity and scope, and GoPro and iPhone capturing the unfiltered, on-the-ground reality of combat and survival. The juxtaposition of these mediums mirrors the disorienting nature of war itself, where moments of stillness and chaos collide.
Stylistically, Ashley takes inspiration from Jonas Mekas, whose diaristic, deeply personal approach informs my use of handheld, spontaneous imagery. Like Mekas, she leans into raw, poetic realism, capturing not only action but the quiet moments in between.
War is not just seen but felt—through the deafening crack of artillery, the eerie silence of anticipation, and the fragmented memories of those who lived through it. By combining structured documentary with avant-garde, experiential storytelling, Why We Went offers both a firsthand experience and an objective lens, challenging the audience to question not just what war looks like, but what it feels like—and why people choose to be a part of it.