Six filmed by or about Ukraine have made it to the longlist of the 97th Academy Awards (Oscar-2025).
The film INTERCEPTED directed by Oksana Karpovych was presented in three categories: "Animated Feature Film," "Documentary Feature Film," and "International Feature Film."
The film is based on intercepted conversations between Russians and their families in Russia, alongside footage of Ukrainian cities and villages affected by the war.
"The voices of the 'peaceful' civilians reveal to the world the course of the so-called 'special operation' and the horrific inner world of the Russians," the team explains.
VESELKA: THE RAINBOW ON THE CORNER AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD is a documentary about the Ukrainian restaurant Veselka in New York and humanitarian aid to Ukraine following the full-scale invasion. According to director Michael Fiore, the film explores how families and communities come together through food and culture.
After the Rain: Putin's Stolen Children Come Home is a documentary about the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. The film shows the journey families of illegally deported children go through.
PORCELAIN WAR tells the story of three Ukrainian ceramic artists from Kharkiv: Slava Leontiev, his wife Anya Stasenko, and their friend Andriy Stefanov. Amid the shelling, Anya immerses herself in art, Slava becomes a shooting instructor, and Andriy takes up a camera to film his friends. At the same time, Anya and Slava capture their memories and dreams on tiny porcelain figurines.
LA PALISIADA is a post-Soviet noir film about events in Ukraine in 1996. The plot centers around two friends—a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist—who are investigating the murder of their colleague. The detective and psychiatrist were once in love with the widow of the deceased.
"Caught up in a convoluted case and long-forgotten memories, they create a future in which their children will live, inheriting their parents' unrealized ambitions," the filmmakers describe the plot.
UNDER THE VOLCANO is a Polish film about a Ukrainian family vacationing on the Spanish islands when the full-scale invasion begins. In one night, they become refugees.
