UKRAINA! Festiwal Filmowy

UKRAINA! Festival Filmowy  – the largest festival of Ukrainian cinema in Poland.

About the project

The aim of the festival is to spread knowledge about modern Ukraine and Ukrainians through film screenings and online meetings with their authors.

Project tasks

  • to present the latest films of Ukrainian cinematography to the Polish audience
  • to spread knowledge about modern Ukraine and Ukrainians through film screenings and online meetings with their authors
  • popularization of Ukrainian cinema at professional venues and cult international events
  • establishment of international institutional cooperation between Ukraine and Poland in the field of cinematography

Results of 2023

In 2023, the Ukrainian Film Festival ‘Ukraina Festiwal Filmowy’ took place for the eighth time. The Ukrainian Institute collaborated with the film festival for the fifth time. 

At the Ukraina Festiwal Filmowy 2024, more than 60 Ukrainian films were presented. The festival winners were as follows: 

  • Best Feature Film – La Palisiada by Philip Sotnychenko (winner of proMOTION 2023)
  • Best Documentary Film – In the Rearview by Maciek Hamela 
  • Best Short Film – Teacher’s Day by Oleksiy Pasichnyk 
  • Best Actresses – Irma Vitovska, Karyna Khymchuk 
  • Audience Award – Luxembourg, Luxembourg by Antonio Lukich 
  • Special Mention – Rock. Paper. Grenade by Iryna Tsilyk 

Overall, the festival featured feature films, documentaries, short films, and animated films, as well as the best award-winning films produced in Ukraine in recent years. 

In the framework of the Ukraina Festiwal Filmowy in Warsaw an educational-discussion panel titled ‘Opportunities and Challenges for Ukrainian Actors in the Polish Film and TV Production Process’ was organized by the Ukrainian Institute and Ukraina Festiwal Filmowy.

The panel featured the participation of the Polish Casting Directors Guild and Casting Directors: Ewa Brodzka (“Chłopi,” “Znachor,” “Miasto 44,” “Cicha noc,” “Piłsudski,” “Ikar. Legenda Mietka Kosza”) and Ewa Łepecka (“Dzisiaj śpisz ze mną,” “Samiec Alfa,” “Maszyna Goldberga,” “Small world”). Additionally, agent Wanda Onyszkiewicz (British-Polish agency Twenty Nine Five Group) was present. The discussion was moderated by Ukrainian theater and film actor, coach, and founder of the “Actor without a Cover” project, Ihor Aronov. 

UKRAINA! Festival Filmowy
UKRAINA! Festival Filmowy
UKRAINA! Festival Filmowy

Results of 2022

54 Ukrainian films in the festival programme, including feature films, documentaries, children’s films, as well as special selection Mariupol. In 2022, the festival held a short competition of Ukrainian films, which included 24 films based on the results of the selection of the festival’s programme department.

The professional jury awarded the main prize to Yula Deglina’s film “Homo Deus” “for the ability to speak the language of the film, empathy and a touching image of the younger generation.”

The Audience Choice Award was given to:

  • Documentary film – “My Ozerna”, directed by Karina Bendkovska
  • Feature film – “Slovo” House. Unfinished Novel, directed by Taras Tomenko

The Public Jury awarded “Maria” by Vladlen Odudenko “for her brutally honest approach to the universal theme of violence against women, confronting the local context of Ukrainian religiosity, as well as her skillful use of horror aesthetics.”

The film “Decision” by Katarzyna Sikorska was awarded “for considering the extremely complex and sensitive topic of surrogacy in the context of Polish-Ukrainian relations, for aesthetic and technical values and a high level of acting skills.”. The film “Free Man. Pilgrimage” by Sergii Dmytrenko received a special award from the Association of Ukrainians in Poland.

Among these Ukrainian and co-produced with Ukraine films are prize winners and participants of such film festivals as Berlinale, Sundance, Cannes, Locarno and Venice:

  • 107 Mothers (Cenzorka), dir. Peter Kerekes 
  • A House Made of Splinters, dir. Simon Lereng Wilmont 
  • Butterfly Vision, directed by Maksym Nakonechnyi 
  • How Is Katya? directed by Christina Tynkevych 
  • Klondike, directed by Marina Er Horbach 
  • Pamfir, directed by Dmytro Suholytkyy-Sobchuk 
  • Reflection, directed by Valentin Vasyanovych 
  • Boney Piles (Terykony), directed by Taras Tomenko   

 

Results of 2021

54 films in the festival programme. Among them are 13 full-length films:

  • “Rhino”, dir. Oleh Sentsov, Ukraine/Poland/Germany, 2021
  • “Blindfold”, dir. Taras Dron, Ukraine, 2020
  • “Stop Zemlia”, dir.Kateryna Gornostai, Ukraine, 2021
  • “Bad roads”, dir.Natalya Vorozhbit, Ukraine, 2020
  • “U311 Cherkasy”, dir. Tymur Yashchenko, Ukraine/Poland, 2019
  • “Rival”, dir. Marcus Lenz, Ukraine/Germany, 2020
  • “I work at the cemetery”, dir. Oleksii Taranenko, Ukraine/Poland, 2021
  • “This rain will never stop”, dir.Alina Gorlova, Ukraine/Latvia/Germany/Qatar, 2020
  • “Ivan’s Land”, dir.Andrii Lysetskyi, Ukraine, 2020
  • “Salt from Bonneville”, dir. Simon Mozgovyi, Ukraine/Poland/Georgia, 2020
  • “Inner wars”, dir.Masha Kondakova, Ukraine, 2021
  • “The earth is blue as an orange”, dir.Iryna Tsilyk, Ukraine/Lithuania, 2020
  • “Roses. Film Cabaret”, dir. Irena Stetsenko, Ukraine, 2021

The festival featured 11 animated films from the international film festival LINOLEUM, 4 short animated films for children, the film “The White Bird Marked with Black” by Yuriy Ilyenko, as well as retrospective screenings of Kira Muratova’s film programme: “Brief Encounters”, “The Long Farewell”, “The Asthenic Syndrome”, “Eternal Return”.

Results of 2020

About 30 films in the festival programme.

Winners of the Audience Choice Competition of the Film Festival UKRAINE!:

  • “The Nest of the Turtledove”, dir. Taras Tkachenko, Ukraine, 2013
  • “Myth”, dir. Leonіd Kanter, Іvan Yasnіy, Ukraine, 2018
  • “Homeward”, dir. Narіman Alіiev, Ukraine, 2019

7 full-length:

  • “The Forgotten”, dir. Daria Onyshchenko, Ukraine/Switzerland. 2019 
  • “U311 Cherkasy”, dir. Tymur Yashchenko, Ukraine/Poland, 2019 
  • “Dedicated”, dir. Khrystyna Syvolap, Ukraine, 2020
  • “Numbers”, dir. Oleh Sentsov, Akhtem Seitablaev, Ukraine/Poland/Czech Republic/France, 2019 
  • “Black Raven”, dir. Taras Tkachenko, Ukraine, 2019
  • “The Painted Bird”, dir. Václav Marhoul, Ukraine/Czech Republic/Poland/Slovakia, 2019
  • “The Earth Is Blue as an Orange”, dir. Iryna Tsilyk, Ukraine/Lithuania, 2020
     

5 short films were also presented:

  • “Desaturated”, dir. Marina Stepanska, Ukraine, 2019
  • “In our synagogue”, dir. Ivan Orlenko, Ukraine, 2019
  • “Circulation”, dir. Oleksіy Radinsykiy, Ukraine/Great Britain, 2020. 
  • “Zong”, dir. El Parvulesco, Teta Cibulynik, Svіtlana Potocyka, Ukraine, 2020 
  • “The Second Front. Stories of LGBT Soldiers”, dir. Maksim Nakonechniy, Ukraine, 2020

The block of animated films includes the best works of the Contemporary Animation festival LINOLEUM:

  • “Ukraine’s History in 5 Minutes”, dir. Sashko Danilenko, Ukraine, 2020
  • “The Surrogate”, dir. Stas Santіmov, Ukraine, 2020
  • “Deep Love”, dir. Mikita Lisykov, Ukraine, 2019
  • “Umbilical”, dir. Oleksandr Bubnov, Ukraine, 2018
  • “Reincarnation”, dir. Anna Rudіchenko, Ukraine, 2019 
  • “Until It Turns Black”, dir. Anastasіya Falіleieva, Ukraine, 2019
  • “Elohim – Metamorphine”, dir. Hanna Rybak, Ukraine, 2020 
     

Also, “Earth” by Oleksandr Dovzhenko was shown with musical accompaniment by the “Bastarda Trio” band.