Discoveries from Ukraine World Cinema

A film about a jam session in the Cherkasy courtyard under a century-old pear tree, with a presentation of new works by the creative youth of Cherkasy.

Japan. A man loses his wife and in his sorrow, he dives into origami - his deceased wife’s passion - trying to find comfort in the paper world he’s creating

A stop-motion animation short tells a fictionalized story of Oleg Mitasov, a cult figure of the urban folklore in Kharkiv. It draws on conspiratorial imaginations of the 1990s and the origins of Kharkiv's graffiti. The film is part of the anthology "Khastoria", dedicated to Kharkov.

Oleg Khrapan is a master of folk art of Ukraine and a modern potter. His work often evokes emotions of delight, happiness and nostalgia, because pottery is one of the oldest crafts in Ukraine. Every spectator will be able to look into the bright everyday life of a pottery workshop and be enchanted to watch how clay turns into real works of art in the skillful hands of a master.

The story of a 15-year-old boy that isn't with us anymore. Filmed in Ternopil, a city in the western part of Ukraine, in 2015-2016.

Short animated film about the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi in 1784. This is a short story about the events of that time. This is the story of the first flight of a balloon in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi in 1784. And about how people and animals lived and behaved at that time.

An experimental film-essay on history and abstract art, the theme of which is Kandinsky's painting.

The heroes of the film are four completely different people, each living his own life. But what unites them is dignity. Human dignity, dignity as citizens of Ukraine, dignity as contemporaries who want to live here and now, despite the fact that society is not quite ready to perceive them completely as they are. because they are gay. The film is based on the conversation of the four heroes of the film, as well as on the own thoughts of thought leaders. They are talking about how and what the Revolution of Dignity of 2013-2014 and the fighting in Donbas affected the heroes themselves, their sense of dignity, as well as how society has changed its opinion about the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine.

Does art have the right path?

Experimental work that explores the Soviet imaginary and its relation to the future. The work features a virtual rendering of an architectural landscape that contrasts physical and temporal scales and stamps function as graphic messengers of a political and cultural transition. Constructed between the frameworks of speculative architecture, philately and the politics of time, "Postcard From a Nonexisting City" is a work that reflects on temporal arrangements and geopolitical effects produced by space communication technologies.

A human is observing the deserted streets of his hometown on the edge of the Apocalypse. The world is on the verge of being absorbed by the Black Hole. Familiar places in the ruins are difficult to recognize and it's hard to find the clues to understand is it a reality or dream. The sensation of "not quite real" is the sensation experienced during a catastrophe. In a person's attempts to orientate the disintegrating reality, the only one with whom he can discuss what is happening is artificial intelligence.

One day, the one guy falls out of his doner. Illuminated by a light ray, it comes alive and begins its way.

The story of a sister and her brother.

A story about a bird that wanted to eat a worm, and a worm that really didn't want to be eaten...

Tragicomedic story about rescue attempt and its consequences based and inspired mostly by cheesy yet charming Superman movies from 70-80s. It is a simple straightforward story with a cheerful and a little bit nostalgic atmosphere contrasted by a grimm and sudden twist.

The Gum is an outcast, constantly neglected and forced to fit into the circumstances. Until a random acquaintance with a plastic bag changes its life and the Gum starts dreaming of something bigger.

A young man is refusing to believe that he has cancer and is procrastinating till the very last moment to tell his girlfriend about the scary but obvious symptoms. Once he realizes that he has very little time left, he turns his hesitation into his strength. He proposes to his girlfriend, introduces his bride to his father, who is dying of cancer and decides that he must survive, he must live for the love of his life, and he decides to get the surgery. Now it's up to doctors' whether the love or cancer wins.

To regain his inheritance rights, Severin Nalyvayko (unrecognized son of Prince Dmytro Sangushko and Princess Halshka Ostrozka), at the head of an army of just as disenfranchised daredevils, fights against the army of the Commonwealth for the freedom of Ukraine: only in the free Cossack Republic can he restore justice and become who he is by right.

Short subject

A soldier is thinking about his family, by opening door after door in his corridor of opportunities but everything we know about him changes with an explosion. Will he have his tomorrow?

What makes us human? Doing good, it always comes back, and if it is just to give the poor person even just a coin, these actions go far into space and come back to us 1000 times more by force.

The heroes of the film are two families who bring up children with autism spectrum disorders. In the center of the plot are two mothers, with their sons (10 and 15 years old). Women are friends, share difficulties and joys, support each other, although they live in different countries. The film about autism addresses not only the community whose families it has touched, but society as a whole. It is an invitation to each spectator to understand, tolerance and expand the outlook.

A story about the most modest Ukrainian two-time Oscar winner and his obsession with cinema. Anatoliy Kokush is a legendary figure in Ukrainian cinema. Kokush's inventions are in high demand in Hollywood. With the help of technology invented and designed by Kokush himself and his studio Filmotechnik, numerous films, promotional videos, concerts, shows, and sporting events have been filmed around the world. For his work, Anatoliy Kokush has twice received awards from the American Film Academy for scientific and technical achievements (the so-called "Technical Oscar").

In the 17th century, a young orphan boy is affected by war and the violent events of the era. The film shows his daily life and dreams, as well as his flashbacks.

Xam is a sci-fi exploration on the future of surveillance and body hacking.

Sometimes abstract spots and lines form a landscape.

Director returns to her native city and tells a story of her adulting in Cosmos - a neighborhood in Zaporizhzhia. She tries to define what Cosmos means to her. Is it a self-sufficient universe or traumatic experience, a neighborhood or sensation?

Adventures of a disoriented subject under the chaotic decommunization. An instant of toposonic confusion when habitude is broken. The film was inspired by the official renaming of Petrivka station, which led to re-recording of all Kyiv metro announcements with a new voice, while the old one had gone for good.

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?

Transgender human rights activist aiming to get a refugee status is struggling with biased bureaucratic authorities in a post-soviet country. His psychological condition is getting worse. He experiences panic attacks and suicidal thoughts.

Early in the morning, the grandfather is going through the letters and photos, when he hears a doorbell. At the door, he finds his new caregiver. From the beginning, they do not get along and over time, the animosity between them is growing. During the day, a set of events escalates the conflict, and the time bombs within these two explode. Grandpa kicks the caregiver out of his house, and she is more than happy to leave. However, later he realizes that now he cannot be without her.

Friendship, betrayal, and reconciliation with one’s own old shoes.

A documentary film about a worker of the school cloakroom.

Starting on Monday I - [end the sentence with your favourite resolution]. What if this would not have happened? What if this Monday has already turned into a Friday? A Friday's Monday shows day-to-day life, cramped relationships, and the gendered communication of a modern family in the post-Soviet region.

First Ukrainian noir movie, brought to you by the "Agrarian decadence" group! A story about why you should not care whether bootleggers pay the excise tax.

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.

Death is an unverified rumor.

Completing the paperwork for immigration to Israel, Anya learns that her dad, whom she has not seen for 20 years, is the person who must sign her permit that will allow her a better future.

I remember very vividly the last Ukrainian elections in Donetsk in the spring of 2014. After the Russian occupation of the Crimea and the separatist protests, I wanted to go to the volunteer battalion "Donbass", but there were no more places in it. And I decided to work in the election commission for the early presidential elections in Ukraine and shoot everything on camera.

A haunting evocation of the aftermath of the explosion at Chernobyl, 25 years on. This visually stunning road movie takes the spectator on a bleak journey from the shores of the Black Sea to the frozen heart of Chernobyl, passing through desolate, snowy landscapes, littered with abandoned villages. Squatting in this icy wasteland, the ghostly sarcophagus of Reactor No.4 is a constant reminder of the threat still lurking below. Accompanied by testimony from a group of unseen veterans of the disaster, Precarious bears witness to both the folly and resilience of humans and to nature's fragility.