In Berlin, the programme for the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, scheduled to take place from February 13 to 23, 2025, has been announced. The Ukrainian film "Time Ribbon" by director Kateryna Gornostai has been included in the festival’s main competition lineup.
"Timestamp" chronicles the lives of Ukrainian schools during the full-scale war, covering regions from Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia to Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Ochakiv, and Kamianske. This documentary explores the experiences of teachers and students who continue to teach and learn amid military conflict, even in de-occupied and frontline areas.
According to director Kateryna Gornostai, it was important for her and the team to show how today’s students in Ukraine live, what brings them joy, and what makes them happy despite the war.
“We focused on everyday life and simple school experiences, such as tears at the first bell ceremony, a high school senior playing Saint Nicholas, and colorful ribbons in the hands of graduates. All of this, of course, now carries the context of war: students often study in shelters during air raid alarms, a principal shows the destroyed and sealed-off part of a school while lessons continue in another wing, and an online graduation ceremony features a school bell evacuated from Bakhmut. The war has deeply permeated this daily life, but we have no choice but to keep living and learning—and even finding joy in the everyday.”
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Kateryna Gornostai, a 35-year-old Ukrainian director and screenwriter, is making her second appearance at Berlinale with a feature film. Her debut feature-length drama, "Stop-Zemlia," won the Crystal Bear from the Youth Jury in the Generation 14+ programme at Berlinale 2021.
The concept for "Timestamp" was proposed by the public association OSVITORIA, which also served as the film’s executive producer. The Ukrainian producers of the film are Olga Bregman and Natalia Libet, co-founders of 2BRAVE PRODUCTIONS.
This year’s 75th anniversary Berlinale will run from February 13 to 23, 2025, with renowned filmmaker Todd Haynes serving as the jury president for the main competition.
