Discoveries from Ukraine World Cinema

First ladies come and go, but the last ladies continue to bear the cross of their homeland. Those who endure great trials cannot be called "little people."

Yuliia is a travel blogger who is planning to leave the country to develop her project, but there is one problem: her autistic cousin Bodya. Now it is important to quickly find another place for him to live.

Fifty years ago, the village of Polovinkine in the Luhansk region was granted experimental and demonstration status and became an example for the region. Today, it could be considered ordinary and neglected. Were it not for a group of young people who dream of records and fantasize about the glory of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A ballet extravaganza on the theme of the birth of the elements at the beginning of the world.

Three parts explore themes of life, birth, and the impact of the Chornobyl disaster. The first part features the artist’s pregnant body adorned with paintings and 3D figures, symbolizing the Ukrainian pysanka and the civilizational field of Earth. The second part juxtaposes footage of a newborn with ultrasound images of the unborn child. The third part imagines twenty years post-Chornobyl, depicting twins with genetic abnormalities, symbolizing societal and genetic issues resulting from the disaster, as they walk hand in hand towards an approaching tram.

A love story in a remote Ukrainian village is recounted through a pile of old letters and secret voice recordings.

For the sake of their children and in pursuit of justice, residents and activists of what was once a paradise, now threatened by an industrial monster growing up next to their homes, are exposing the state in the first Ukrainian environmental case in the European Court of Human Rights.

Young activists decide to conduct an artistic experiment: they visit a randomly selected courtyard in a residential area of Kyiv and offer their services to residents to diversify life in the courtyard. The most active and engaged members of the community—grandmothers—respond to their initiative and offer their unusual creative idea.

Anton is an ordinary guy from Kryvyi Rih who plays computer games, listens to rap music, and works as an IT engineer. But after the Revolution of Dignity, he began fighting against the corrupt local authorities, which are still dominated by representatives of the regime of fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych and Soviet methods of governance. Anton strives to make Kryvyi Rih a better place to live, but the system retaliates with smear campaigns and lawsuits against him. One of the pressing issues for Anton is to improve the local public transport system in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's longest city. A city where you are unlikely to get anywhere by public transport after 8 p.m.

A film about the events in Donetsk in the spring of 2014 through the eyes of a teenager who supported the separatists.

A film portrait of the famous Ukrainian artist Arsen Savadov. The film depicts the process of creating the art project "Collective Red," which results in the entire creative team ending up at the police station.

A film about Mariupol.

The day I saw the globe was not just another day in June for me. That day will forever stand out from the rest—it was the first time I saw Kyiv. I remember that I was not particularly impressed by Vladimir the Baptist (I had seen this monument in photos and in movies), but I never imagined that I could turn the earth with a polished handle, just as I once turned the well crank in Cherkasy at the customs office on the way to Dnipro.

Experimental documentary about the sense of home and family memory, presented with archival photographs and videos, diaries, and memories. The place represented in this work [home] has been mothballed since March 5, 2022, due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. It is located in Kharkiv and is under an increased threat of being lost due to daily shelling.

A French anti-globalization writer arrives in Kyiv for the presentation of his book. A surprise awaits him at Boryspil Airport. Instead of a young and pretty translator, the writer is met by her father, a policeman with not very refined manners. The lack of a common language causes comical situations and conflicts between the men. However, they unexpectedly find a common topic.

A long time ago, when she was still young, the heroine left her village and now lives in a noisy big city. From time to time, her memory takes her back to those distant days when she was happy. But that was so long ago, and was it really?

Jonathan has limitations due to psychological trauma suffered in the past, which affects his decision-making in the present. The film shows that such limitations exist only in the mind and must be overcome for a better future.

An investigative film about medical cannabis in Ukraine. The film's protagonists are people who already have experience using cannabis-based medicines for medical purposes and share this experience with the viewer. They include scientists and doctors who believe that changes in legislation are necessary, as well as those who are categorically opposed to these changes.

A young man and a girl met in a church. He had returned from a business trip and was lighting a candle in front of an icon to commemorate his deceased mother. She was the church bell ringer and was about to go home. That's how they met. In the thick of things, it turns out that they're not just a couple in love, but a cold-blooded killer and a beautiful prostitute. The transformation is unbelievable, though totally cinematic. But that's not all... Filming is done. The actress takes off the luxurious fur coat she rented for the shoot. The actor changes his clothes too. Now they look nothing like their characters. Their daughter runs up to them. Real life, away from the screen, begins with its worries and cares.

The amazing, exquisite Baroque style came to Ukraine in the mid-17th century, during the era of liberation wars and the awakening of national consciousness. Ukraine gave the world its own version of Baroque, enriching it with traditions of folk art and architecture. The film shows only the Kyiv style of Ukrainian Baroque, preserved and destroyed architectural masterpieces. Among them are the creations of Rastrelli and Grigorovich-Barsky.

In a train compartment rushing through snow-covered fields, a married couple is traveling—a sharp-tongued wife and her unhappy husband. The clinking of spoons in cup holders, the slamming of doors, the annoying radio—everything is as usual. However, the train suddenly stops at a small station where there is nothing but, perhaps, an ice cream...

Journalists from The Kyiv Independent conducted an investigation and spoke with relatives and guardians whose children were on the verge of being sent to Russia. Bypassing the front line, their loved ones traveled through several European countries to Donetsk to pick up their children and prevent them from being transferred to Russian families. The journalists also identified a group of children who were deported to Russia last spring under the guise of a health retreat at the Polyany resort. They were promised to be returned in a month, but instead were placed in the care of Russian families. Ukrainian collaborators who remained working on the Russian side in 2014 were involved in the deportation of this group of children.

A film about the boundaries we set among ourselves, so as not to speak on complex topics and not to quarrel in difficult times.

A short documentary.

Mykhailo Kolobok, a People's Artist who lost his bearings in life, became addicted to alcohol, and began to lose his family, his job, and his purpose in life. Only thanks to the powerful emotion of love does the main character change, and a completely different life begins for him. Partly inspired by the biography of the famous Ukrainian comedian Mykola Fedorovych Yakovchenko.

On New Year's Eve, police lieutenant Ostap Mazur investigates a complicated case. His partner is his future father-in-law, Captain Yuriy Kovalenko, who does not consider the young man worthy of his daughter Lana. Despite their personal conflict, the heroes will have to work together, because the life of their loved one, Lana, is at stake. Will the men be able to find common ground to solve the case, save the capital, and save the New Year's holiday?

The film tells the story of two people: a rural boy who was a projectionist, showed films in village clubs, played the accordion masterfully, and was the life of the party; and a criminal who spent 20 years in prison for murder and robbery and is to die in prison. They both contracted tuberculosis 60 years apart, while in prison.

Nine-year-old Serbian girl Yulia Nikolaich mourns on the ruins of her native city of Ilidza. She begs adults not to shoot at her land, not to destroy her home, not to kill her relatives, her childhood, her fairy tale. But the adults do not listen, and blood is shed, and hatred fills the soul. The film covers the peacekeeping forces in Yugoslavia, the Ukrainian battalion in Sarajevo, and its help in restoring peace in the region.

24-year-old Pavlo is going on a journey to cross the Polish border and get to Paris. There he wants to work as a musician. Unable to obtain a passport, Pavlo crosses the border in a coffin. Paris, six months later. Police officers are trying to detain illegal musicians. Pavlo is saved by an old acquaintance.

November, 2022. A mother from Mariupol that has not seen her son since the beginning of the war, has only a week to spend with him in a rocket-shelled Kyiv before migrating to Canada.

Victoria is a young student at a Ukrainian theater university who is having difficulty realizing her dream. Like millions of Ukrainians, her life has changed, been put on hold, and turned into a mere existence. In a cold and lonely apartment, without any connection and with no light, Victoria finds old recordings of her younger self and begins a dialogue with that girl, wanting to feel alive again and find light in the darkness.

This visual poem is a tribute to Ukrainian athletes who lost their lives during the full-scale Russian invasion. Athletes: Odesa figure skating school of Olympic reserve "Kryzhynka", women's hockey team "Kraken Sistesr”, and the smallest hockey players in the school.

Ihor Poklad, a maestro, reflects on the Russian occupation of Vorzel and the artistic resistance of Ukrainian artists, expressed through choreography and his melody ‘Flashback’.

The liberation of her hometown of Kherson prompts Anya to return home as soon as possible, but her new boyfriend Felix tries to keep her with him in Berlin.

Basil has been spending his annual vacation in Ukraine for the second year in a row. He comes here to document the lives of ordinary people. Taking photographs and collecting material for his book, he tries to get closer to the locals in cities close to the front line. What motivates a foreigner to leave his peaceful city, spend his savings, and come to an unfamiliar country at war?

In this evolving three-part video project, I'm delving into the intricate theme of empathy within the realm of social and news media. The work aims to dissect the impact of media competition in portraying death, a phenomenon that fosters a perception of an increasingly violent modern world—though, in reality, this may not be entirely accurate.

Every day, a peculiar creature lives safely inside her jar, following the same routine — a life marked by quiet rituals and the reliable arrival of a daily pizza delivery. But one sunny day, a mysterious guest appears, drawn by the glint of sunlight on her glass shell.

In a terrifying future where everything is so artificial that even people seem fake, the main character longs to break into something real. What begins as mere dreams soon turns into action—especially once the system identifies him as a threat.

They have something to be silent about. Those who once crossed the line between peaceful Ukraine and the ATO zone, often without even understanding what lay ahead. Now they—the mobilized and the volunteers—are back home. But most often, when asked about the war, they say nothing because they have something to be silent about...

A Russian man arrives in the Ukrainian village of Mykhailiuky to meet the woman to whom he pays alimony. He was charged with this by accident—there was a complete coincidence of the name of a malicious non-payer and a stranger.

For homeless people, urban space becomes a place to live. They live in parks, squares, manholes, and abandoned buildings. The city becomes a home. A bench becomes a bed, a dumpster a source of food, and fountains a shower. “The Repressed” is a compilation of stories from homeless people in Odesa about their dreams, fears, hopes, and anxieties.

The film reveals the authors' desire to remove any barrier between real life and the film, which claims to be a sketch from life, a piece of unprocessed reality, in which the filmmakers and actors do not wish to interfere or reveal their attitude toward what is depicted, giving the viewer the opportunity to make up their own mind about what they see.

When love gives way to burning resentment and painful suspicions, even an innocent prank can have irreparable consequences...

The plot of the project tells the story of the life of Sergei Korolev, a world-renowned scientist and founder of space technology production. It is a story about the path to becoming a great personality, starting from childhood and ending in adulthood. Having set himself a goal and living his dream, the designer did everything he could to reach incredible heights.

A short film.

The story of a female pilot and athlete, a champion who, thanks to her spirit and character, always keeps her wings spread and inspires others to do the same.

A well-known jeweler in the city once made an unusual key for his son in the form of a beautiful gold ornament. He always uses this key to lock something very valuable to him in his bank deposit box. Fate is unpredictable, so the jeweler dies and his son Sasha ends up in prison. Thanks to Sashko's easygoing nature, his two friends in misfortune, Stas and Bonia, get their hands on 100 kilograms of gold. So when Sashko is released from prison, instead of looking for his father's killer and the key that was stolen from him, he has to deal with his debt problems. However, this becomes increasingly unrealistic: the mayor and a couple of strange criminal groups join the race for the key and the gold. Possession of the key to success does not necessarily mean success itself.

On December 23, 2006, 14 blind climbers ascended Mount Hoverla. The event, which they dubbed the "Ascent of Tolerance," was entered into the Ukrainian Book of Records.

Once in December 2008, at the height of the crisis, when suddenly everyone owed someone a lot of money, a sniper suddenly shot at Arkady Rozhdestvensky, a local council deputy in one of the suburbs of Yalta. Rozhdestvensky survived, covered by his bodyguard and special assistant Igor. Igor always wears a bulletproof vest. Rozhdestvensky begins to actively search for the person who ordered the assassination attempt.

Sometimes, to learn more, it is worth simply remaining silent.

He and she had been through almost all stages of a relationship together and were about to break up. But suddenly, love appeared in his life, which he did not expect at all, and a real man entered her life, whom she, on the contrary, had been waiting for so long. Life was filled with meaning again, and their hearts were filled with love. But what is to do with previous relationships that have not yet been finalized?

A lighthearted youth comedy about four friends who win a contest for the best commercial. The client, a respectable poultry farm director, was impressed by the creativity of the young advertisers. Their commercial made the entire jury laugh.

The story of a teenager who has a difficult relationship with his mother. She is a simple and modest schoolteacher raising her son alone, but the principal of the same school offers to help her. However, the son cannot forgive his mother for her intimate relationships...

Experimental animation created using the 1960s film archive. Story of one's life in short episodes. A car can also have a biography.

What could happen at night to a little boy in a big old house? And what if that boy is Alfred Hitchcock?

Vanya, his mother, and his sister move into an old apartment that they inherited. With their arrival, something disappears from the apartment forever, but something else appears that will last forever. Left alone at home, Vanya meets his grandfather, whom he never knew.

"Any little thing can turn our lives upside down." She thinks about this every second. "Paranoia," he thinks. But this time she turns out to be right: an ordinary (though, of course, not ordinary, but very expensive) mixer becomes the cause of a scandal, kidnapping, prostitution, a cold, and...

Dima loves listening to music and being alone. But his older brother wants to raise him to be a real man. One day, he takes him to the birthday party of a girl whom Dima is secretly in love with.

Yesterday there was a party, and today Roma wakes up in a strange apartment. Everything would be fine, but there are flowers, balloons, and a bride he doesn't remember everywhere. Roma decides to run away from his own wedding.

A guy wants to become a writer; his neighbor just laughs about this. Nothing happens in their boring existence, and then the guy writes the first story about his neighbor, who didn’t dare invite his sweetheart. Based on Vasily Shukshin’s «Sunday Boredom».