The selection committee behind the projects evaluation included Dennis Ruh, Director Seriesly Berlin, Sergio García de Leániz, Promotion Programme Manager and Project Manager at Eurimages, curator of the Promotion Programme, Elma Tataragić, Screenwriter and Main Programmer of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Competition Programme, Iryna Kyporenko, Head of the Film Department at the Ukrainian Institute, and Anastasiya Volkova, Head of Arts Programmes at the Ukrainian Institute.   

The selected projects are:    

• TIMESTAMP, Director Kateryna Gornostai, producers Olha Bregman, Natalia Libet, Viktor Shevchenko 

Despite the war, school life in Ukraine continues, with students and teachers tirelessly continuing their education even in the face of constant threats. Keeping schools open in Ukraine is an attempt to recreate at least some of the normal life they had before the war — until February 24, 2022 (and in some regions even earlier, in 2014). Without interviews, narration and reenactments, TIMESTAMP provides an insight into how the war is affecting the daily lives of students and teachers. The film has a mosaic-like structure: it explores how a school functions in-person and online in these terrible times, both on and off the frontline, how day-to-day life is intertwined with constant danger. 

• Queens of Joy, Director Olga Gibelinda, producers Ivanna Khitsinska, Louis Beaudemont, Hana Blaha Šilarová  

Amid the war in Ukraine, three drag queens — Monroe, Marlen Scandal, and Aura — refuse to leave their homeland. Instead of fleeing, they choose to fight for freedom, the LGBTQ+ community, and their very existence. From the glamour of the show to the brutality of war, the film follows their lives — filled with loss, fear, and unbreakable courage. Marlen battles old wounds, Monroe rediscovers herself, and Aura fights for her place both in the army and on stage. The charity drag show they organize in support of Ukraine becomes a symbol of unity and resilience. 

In 2025, the Ukrainian Institute continues to implement the programme in collaboration with Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe.  

Throughout the year, at least seven film projects will be selected to receive up to 8,000 euros for promoting their film abroad. Film projects not selected in the first call may be submitted to the next calls.