The film, dedicated to the world-famous Ukrainian director Oleksandr Dovzhenko, tells the story of Odessa in 1926. It is a city that has recovered from the First World War and the Civil War and is now thriving: There is NEP, jazz, boxing, literature, extraordinary cuisine and the sea. It was an era of romantics, writers and young cinema. Cinema was the passion of the people of Odesa.

This is the story of how the aspiring cartoonist and writer Sashko Dovzhenko took his first steps in cinema and became a professional director. Notably, this is the first feature film in the history of world cinema about the legendary Oleksandr Dovzhenko, whose works are widely regarded as some of the greatest films of all time.