Say hello to the Ukrainian family of four (Roman Lutskyi, Anastasiia Karpienko, Sofiia Berezovska, Fedir Pugachov), enjoying their vacation in the Canary Islands. Until the invasion starts and they are stuck in their beautiful hotel, surrounded by others who are still in party mode.

“The starting point was a newspaper article, just like my debut 'Bread and Salt'. It was about Ukrainians who were surprised by the war in Madagascar,” explains director Damian Kocur, who is premiering 'Under the Volcano' in Toronto.

“It was also about my own emotions and the sense of helplessness I felt in the first weeks of the war. That’s when I wrote the script. I felt I had to respond to it somehow, and it was the only way I knew how.”

For Kocur's characters, the world has changed overnight. But not for other hotel guests, who just want to have fun and enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet.