Discoveries from Ukraine World Cinema

A young girl is looking for a change. But an old winter city can only offer the divine.

About how the sudden and unexpected death of someone may become a start point of the new shared story of two young peoples.

For several months, Sloviansk was occupied by pro-Russian fighters. Local residents were first in Ukraine to meet tanks, artillery and other modern weapons. Now it is peaceful tourist city, children play on the streets. But what are their games?

Members of the Sisterhood of St. Maria of Egypt are struggling for unequal rights and dyeing their nails. In a world full of wandering, temptations, and perversions, their duty is to withstand a duel with deviant marginals, or otherwise - painfully lose and replenish the colony of "human garbage". Can these beautiful and brave women who have never wear a pants, save their traditional family values from the threats of the outside world? You will find an answer by watching their adventures.

The cadet boy goes home and falls asleep on the train on the way. People notice this and ask not to make any noise so that the boy can sleep.

Hot summer nights squeeze all the air out of small apartments. In the middle of one of these, the girl is dizzy. Whether from suffocation, or from an ancient promise, the time of which has come. In search of fresh air, the heroine flees to the field, from which she returns to a completely different city.

How would change the story of Romeo and Juliet if it was a computer game? Love story of Romeo and Juliet unfolds on the scene of hostility between two families as in the original play. The spectators are proposed to take the role of Romeo and win Juliet, become Cupid, fight in a battle or even chose their own ending of the story.

Two women with very different lives, united by their common name Nadia, which means hope in Ukrainian, but also by their deep love of song. Some time ago, singing in Ukraine was commonplace; traditional songs were powerful collective meditations that accompanied people from birth to death. Nadia Mykytivna, 82, from the village of Kriachkivka, is one of those few who still keeps this fading tradition alive. She has been singing in the Drevo folk ensemble for 58 years, and is well-known by folklorists all over Eastern Europe. Nadia Mykytivna is the last member of the original Drevo ensemble, and musicians from all over the world travel to Kriachkivka to learn from her. On the other side of the ocean, in the United States, there is another Nadia. A short visit to Kriachkivka and hearing its songs changed her life. Inspired by this, Nadia made an intimate autobiographical theatrical monologue, The Broken…

Barricades and tents were still on the Maidan several months after the protesters' victory. Some said the revolution wasn't over yet, and the center of Kyiv had to remain occupied. The others thought it was time to start working in regions and governmental offices. In August 2014, municipal services and participants of the Maidan gathered to clean it up. The atmosphere reminded me of the classic Ukrainian novel The Black Council by Panteleimon Kulish.

The story of Nina Branovytska, the mother of Ukrainian soldier Ihor Branovytskyi, one of the defenders of Donetsk Airport. In 2015, Ihor was captured during the withdrawal from the airport, he was tortured and executed by a leader of pro-Russian militants while being in captivity.

Mystery. Hate. Escape. Is it possible to find a solution that satisfies everyone?

Montenegrin crime boss Radoje Zvicer was scampering back to his Kyiv apartment with his kids to escape a spring rainfall last year when shots rang out. Zvicer, who leads Montenegro's Kavach cocaine-trafficking clan, barely survived the attack, taking five bullets to his arms and chest. His dog and three children escaped unharmed. The family may owe their lives to the quick reaction of Zvicer's wife, Tamara, who was nearby and packing a pistol. She fired at the hitmen and they ran to their getaway vehicle, a Smart car, and sped off before burning the vehicle and fleeing Kyiv. A special police unit caught up with the gunmen outside the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa the following day, May 27, 2020, on their way to cross the nearby border into Moldova. Ukrainian national police announced that they had arrested four men - but images showed five people detained.

He is like a hired killer and a drug dealer. She seems to be making love for money. Coincidentally or not, but they met each other near the cafe. Then a hotel room, a walk around the city, a party and then another meeting, which, in fact, will determine whether they can be together. Only one thing is known about them: none of them have ever been to Paris.

Roma is going through a severe life crisis - troubles in the family and at work have severely shaken his psyche. After another psychotherapy session, Roma is hit by a car driven by his former classmate Vasya, who has been very successful since graduation. Vasya reveals to Roma the secrets of his success and shows new opportunities in life. This meeting dramatically changes the fate of both heroes.

After the years of pointless and exhausting wars USSR fell into the deep economic and humanitarian catastrophe. The environmental pollution forced people to move into one mega-city and soon it was decided to develop and implement the AI analog of the government with a fully automated workflow. The transition into the cybercommunism has begun. Unfortunately, this technology has not justified itself and soon The Central Computing Machine slowly started to create its own army of obedient sitizens. As a result of repressions and general barrenness the biological population of country has reduced by two thirds during the last 50 years and is expected to be instinct by the end of this century. At the same time country is on the brink of war waiting to spread the ideas of cybercommunism around the world. But not everyone is willing to fight this war.

Old friends from Zaporozhye Denis, Lesha and Gera decided on a winter vacation to strike a tour of the historic cities of western Ukraine. After a tour of the old town of Kamyanets-Podilsky in the snowy evening, the boys decide to visit the local brothel and have fun. But this was their last big mistake.

This film about what people are focusing on and what they sometimes miss.

The young guy Khwai goes to the mountains to find the legendary Master, who has to train and prepare him for battle with the mighty dragons.

17-year-old Lesia from the east of Ukraine temporarily moves with her family to central Ukraine and falls in love with a local boy. But the political hostility of Lesia's father tries to destroy the young people's mutual love.

Somewhere in Eastern Europe. A group of illegals tries to cross the border, guided by the local smuggler.

A director's documentary journey - physical and metaphysical. Maria's mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, when the girl was two years old. Now Maria documents her journey to occupied Crimea in search of crucial answers - could her mother have more bearable life and how to get there, why the illness becomes a stigma and what are the ways to being together, but not just physically. Maria in search of Mother, under the sign of birthmark.

Ivan wants to be an actor more than anything in his life. He is taking acting classes and getting ready to apply to drama university. But there is one big problem. He can't speak. Would this boy be able to make his dreams come true?

His new home is a house in the middle of a field, the former one is a metropolitan apartment. And the worst enemy is his mother. But what will happen when he breaks into his former home?

A five-year-old girl along with her mother and their cat walk around the winter city. Jokingly, the girl puts some of her clothes on the cat. The mother goes away and leaves the child in the city, believing that the cat is her daughter…

Mustaev and Minko pick up the camera in the same rush as they grab the phone to film an emergency. For self-defense, as a measure of civil defense. Or out of a burning desire to capture an extraordinary phenomenon: for example, a story about how the leadership of a theater Institute forcibly imposes a dubious ideological production of the authorship of a certain Deputy on an entire group of students.

Valentin is an eccentric projectionist. For 44 years, he’s been working in one of the oldest cinemas in Kyiv. Every day at work seems like another adventure. It all comes to an abrupt end when a fire breaks out, and he is forced to retire. The man is aware that he does not have much time left and struggles to find a new meaning of his life in a rapidly changing country. The director sees his heroes in this film as dinosaurs living in today’s world.

Film about the unfinished film. "Three butterflies... Suddenly - two butterflies... And nobody has realized how the souls disappear..." Twenty-five years ago, in kyiv, his mother gave to the author a camcorder 16 mm. His friends and he, interested in cinema, started to make everyone own movie. Today, the camcorder has disappeared, as a part of the friends and the country where this happened. But the spools of the films shooted at that time stay. This new film tries to understand then the meaning of the initiated film, and perhaps, in a certain sense, to finish it...

The story of a group of people living in a permanent nuclear winter in the ruins of the old civilisation destroyed by an atomic war.

This film will take the viewer on a journey with a person whose genius epitomized the Renaissance era and the subsequent development of science and art. The hand of this prodigy will sketch the first prototype of a helicopter, paint the most mysterious painting of all time and illustrate human anatomy. The story, told by Leonardo's friend will uplift the veil to reveal da Vinci's life in Florence and Milan at the time of political instability, his numerous scientific and artistic escapades as well as the creation of masterpieces, which stir awe and reverence in the hearts of men up to this day.

This essaistic journal explores radiation in relation to illness, impairment and death – of both man and film. This collage of abstract scenes and images related to travel and memory, shot at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and in nearby places on a trip to Ukraine, forms the central part of the series Lion, which explores the subject of radiation.

A creative documentary about military medics at Russian-Ukrainian war.

A short Ukrainian film.

The events of 1935–36 sent scientists, cultural figures, and Comintern workers to Solovki. Instead of a realm of free labor, there were prisons and camps; instead of blue socialism, there was the tyranny of petty Macbeths at the bottom of the camp hierarchy. This is a short documentary about Mykola Kulish, a Ukrainian writer.

Conveying the spirit of the city. Showing several facets of the centuries-old, amazing, ancient, and at the same time modern city of Berezhany.

The processes taking place in Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity, seen through the prism of a small town. Together with a local entrepreneur, we will follow his journey from revolutionary to army volunteer to candidate for mayor in the 2015 elections.

A person struggles with painful memories and the consequences of mistakes that haunt them. Running from fear, she wonders if repentance can change her fate.

The film captures the celebration of Malanka just a month before the full-scale Russian invasion and the first Christmas in the newly de-occupied territories of Ukraine’s Slobozhanshchyna and Donechchyna. The film consists of two parts, combined into one film previously released by Ukraïner: the full-length "Christmas Together" and the short "Malanka. To Save Home".

Morning in Ukraine. A russian missile hits an apartment building. Terrible destruction that leads to death. But Death decides to intervene in the situation, hesitating to take the life that was claimed by a russian missile.

Our world is a beautiful garden of incredible colors, and it is understandable to anyone who can forget about what monsters can live here.

The young musician vagabond cheats his mother pretending he is external student of the fiscal academy and serving in the military. Mother works abroad and sends money to her son. Everything is fucking good till last exam session. He fails and could be excluded from the academy. Mother goes to Ukraine to do whatever is needed to help her son to make his way in the world. The son should play a military show to hide his bluff.

Short documentary film-portrait of Mykola Buderatskyi who is an openly gay volunteer paramedic.

A 100-year-old Ukrainian scholar's inspirational story about longevity, mentality and nature.

This is a very personal story about how much everything is connected. About the relationship of children and parents, ecology education and responsibility for both relations with people and with nature.

Zhenya is 45 years old, he lives in Ukraine, and works as a street cleaner. His mother lives in the US and got him a green card. To maintain it, he has to travel to America every year. Zhenya is looking for a woman and wants to get married. He records his life on video. This movie explores the reality of selfies by using two cameras: one belongs to the protagonist, the other is operated by the director. As a result, the two realities merge in one film.

Genie in the Air is a slow observation of the work of three FPV drone pilots, which allows you to deeply immerse yourself in the atmosphere of war and see the living people behind it.

A couple of teenagers lead a carefree marginal life in a big city, mocking the bustling modern society. But the joy of unemployment is fading more and more, and circumstances suddenly lead them into a disturbing puppet world, prompting to change their perception of reality.

In the forest, next to the animals, lives a caring Monster, but his care leads to tragedy.

Khimprom was once among the largest fertilizer producers in the Soviet Union. The chemical plant went bankrupt, leaving a toxic legacy in its wake. A phosphogypsum stack, known locally as the “White Mountain,” stands as the silent guardian to an obscured industrial past, while simultaneously offering refuge to an emerging ecosystem of thriving urban wildlife. The film unravels hidden histories of agricultural chemical production and the unexpected natures that emerge from post-industrial landscapes.

An experimental film based on the author's performance of the same title and interactive installation "Piece of Shit", realised at The Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada in 1998. The video balances between the research of sexuality and politics. The author appeals to the danger of the 20th century mass illusions and explores a problem of the responsibility.

The world of a boy with hearing and speech impairments is full of troubles and misunderstandings. His perception of the world changes after he befriends a little girl, whom he teaches sign language.

What does anti-authoritarian resistance look like when war arrives at your doorstep? This documentary was filmed in summer 2024 in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Izium. It shows the people behind the Solidarity Collectives — at the front and behind it. A film about impossible choices, horizontal organizing under fire, and solidarity that doesn't stop at borders.

Ukrainian cinematographer Anatoliy Khymych raises three dogs, one of which he saved from death, and the shadows of the films he has shot — about Chornobyl, in particular — are recalled.

The story of the Kyiv boys’ and young men’s choir “Dzvinochok,” which has preserved its sound for 60 years through bans, censorship, and life during war, and today resonates worldwide as the voice of Ukraine.

According to the philosophical and religious tradition of ancient China, a Daoist is a person who seeks to live in harmony with the natural order of the world, following the principles of balance and simplicity. Perhaps this very idea served as the foundation for Surkov’s surreal and plotless film. On the other hand, it’s a melancholic sketch of Troieshchyna in the late 1990s.

A young woman comes to a coffee shop to work, but notices a sign nearby that says "Table for dating." Sofia moves there in hopes of finally finding love. But what first impression will the men who want to meet the beauty make on her?

This experimental film is a metaphysical journey through memories. It is a melancholic reflection on childhood and the fragility of personal sacred places. The concept: the main character is an object, not a subject, which the audience spends 24 hours with, exploring the possibility of a script without conventional elements.

A delicate story about a girl trying to find perfect love, while refusing to settle for something simple.

Simon (26) is a mummy’s boy who has finally decided to become independent and mature. He flees from his obsessive mother to a hermit life in a trailer. But his attempt to escape from one woman leads to an encounter with four others because such a phenomenon as women’s suicide season is coming.

As usual, the owl was getting ready for sleep. But a sudden message about the outbreak of war changed everything. Following the call of her heart, this winged volunteer sets off on an unusual journey to find something that could help bring Victory closer.

A film about the Ukrainian Border Guard Institute in Khmelnytskyi.