The 10th Ukraїna! Film Festival kicks off in Warsaw on November 3. Over the course of a week, audiences at the local cinemas Kinoteka, Atlantic, and Iluzjon will be able to see 60 feature, animated, documentary, and short films.
The festival’s competition program, held this year under the motto “Cinema of Freedom,” includes 10 feature films, 10 documentaries, and 25 short films selected from over 150 submissions.
Among the feature films in the competition are titles dedicated to the events in Bucha at the start of the Russian invasion — Daughter by Yehor Olesov and Bucha by Stanislav Tiunov.
Audiences will also see Honeymoon by director Zhanna Ozirna, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, and the festival’s opening film, You Are the Universe by Pavlo Ostrikov, recognized at European festivals.
Additionally, the competition features two films starring renowned Ukrainian actor Bohdan Benyuk, who plays leading roles in My Carpathian Grandfather and The Devil’s Business.
One of the most notable entries is Animals at War, a Ukrainian film anthology featuring many directors, including Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi (The Tribe) and Andriy Lidahovsky (My Thoughts Are Silent), according to the festival organizers.
The film festival will also include numerous accompanying events, such as a discussion on Ukrainian-Polish relations during the war, a fact-checking masterclass, a producers’ panel on “Opportunities for Cooperation and Co-Production in Europe for Ukrainian Filmmakers,” a culinary workshop, an exhibition of theatrical costumes, and more.
After the Warsaw screenings, the festival will tour other cities: Łódź, Przemyśl, Wrocław, Poznań, Lublin, Kraków, and Płock.
