This year, the Ivano-Frankivsk International Short Film Festival 4:3 will offer a program of short animation for the first time.

This year, the 4:3 International Short Film Festival in Ivano-Frankivsk will take place for the third time from September 28 to October 1, 2023. The festival will open at MovieLand.

In addition to the opening ceremony, the audience will have the opportunity to watch the opening film "Such a Late, Such a Warm Autumn" (1981) directed by Ivan Mykolaichuk. This screening is organized as part of a retrospective program of Ukrainian cinema in partnership with the Dovzhenko Center and the O. Dovzhenko Film Studio. During the festival days, MovieLand cinema will host screenings of competitive programs. This information was announced by the organizers of the 3rd Ivano-Frankivsk International 4:3 Short Film Festival in a press release.

The Ivano-Frankivsk ISFF sees its mission as promoting and developing Ukrainian and foreign cinema shot in the 4:3 format. The festival combines various event formats, including film screenings, lectures, open discussions, and artist talks with leading figures in Ukrainian culture.

The main events of the festival will take place at two locations: "Vagabundo" and on the premises of the Potocky Palace.

Traditionally, the festival program includes national and international competitions, each featuring 10 films created in the 4:3 format no later than 2021 and with a duration of no more than 30 minutes.

Each competition is divided into two program blocks. The programming team selected a diverse range of films for participation, including narrative, documentary, hybrid, and experimental works. The filmmakers themselves come from various professional backgrounds, ranging from those making their first film to those who have previously received awards such as the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

National Competition I:

1. "I Always Flinch at News from Kyiv" (dir. Darina Mamaysur)
2. "Ach So" (dir. Polina Piddubna)
3. "Speedy" (dir. Kateryna Yahodka)
4. "GKChP" (dir. Arkadiy Nepytaliuk)
5. "Explosions Near the Museum" (dir. Yarema Malashchuk and Roman Khimey)

National Competition II:

1. "Friend" (dir. Yevhen Zaiats and Yelizaveta Mamon)
2. "Berth" (dir. Viktoriia Semenova and Pavlo Semenov)
3. "Rewrite" (dir. Kyrylo Zemlianii)
4. "A Film Devoted to Water and Trees" (dir. Florian Yuriev)
5. "Fish" (dir. Dmytro Kucherov)

After the screening of each film in the national competition programs, there will be short Q&A sessions with the filmmakers who will be present at the festival.

International Competition I:

1. "Please Make It Work" (dir. Daniel Soares, Switzerland)
2. "On Xerxes' Throne" (dir. Evi Kalogiropoulou, Greece)
3. "Vision of Paradise" (dir. Leonardo Pirondi, Brazil)
4. "Potemkinists" (dir. Radu Jude, Romania)
5. "Women Visiting a City" (dir. Enrique Buleo, Spain)

International Competition II:

1. "Off-Season" (dir. Francescu Artily, France)
2. "Ball-Pit. Wednesday. Lemonade." (dir. Daniel Howard-Baker, UK)
3. "Men of the Night" (dir. Judith Auffray, France)
4. "Tokyo Animals" (dir. Toshiki Yashiro, Japan)
5. "My Nikola" (dir. Martina Marasović, Croatia)

The jury for determining the winners in the competition programs includes director and last year's winner of the festival's national competition, Olga Zhurba, film journalist and program director of the "Mikolaichuk OPEN" film festival, Alex Malishenko, and artist and performer Maria Rusinkevich. Each jury member can award one film with a special individual distinction.

Additionally, for the second time, the festival will feature a retrospective program of Ukrainian classic cinema in partnership with the "Dovzhenko Center." This year, the "Dovzhenko Film Studio" has also joined their collaboration. The retrospective program will include the following films:

1. "Such a Late, Such a Warm Autumn" (1981) directed by Ivan Mykolaichuk
2. "Conscience" (1968) directed by Volodymyr Denysenko
3. "Niagara" (1991) directed by Oleksandr Vizir
4. "Dandelion's Bloom" (1992) directed by Oleksandr Ignatusha

Additionally, this year, the Ivano-Frankivsk International Short Film Festival 4:3 will hold its first program of short animation films, created in collaboration with Polish animation festivals O!PLA Ogólnopolski Niezależny Festiwal Animacji and RISING OF LUSITANIA AnimaDoc Film Festival. The curator of the program is the program director of these festivals, Piotr Kardas. The screenings will take place with the financial support of the Polish Institute in Ukraine.

Additionally, during the Ivano-Frankivsk International Short Film Festival 4:3, there will be a special program titled "Encounter with My Dream," which is a retrospective of German director Jan Soldat. Over the last decade, he has created more than 100 films in the 4:3 format, which have participated in major international festivals such as Berlin and Cannes. The festival organizers have selected the most significant films by this director to form a curator program with its own dramaturgy. They note that in his works, Jan Soldat often addresses taboo LGBTQ+ issues, creating skillful hybrid films. The "Encounter with My Dream" screening has an age restriction of 18+.

In addition to the screenings, the festival team plans to hold artist talks with members of the jury and a public discussion with all participants of the National Competition.

According to the founder and program director of the Ivano-Frankivsk International Short Film Festival 4:3, Oleksandr Hoysan, this year's film forum will be distinctly different from previous editions of the festival.

"We are not only talking about different locations but also a different approach to creating the program. We decided to move away from the format of a 'lecture event' to focus more on the film screenings themselves. Additionally, we will have so many special curator programs for the first time," said Hoysan.

Entry to most events will require tickets, but as in previous years, some events will be free of charge. Tickets are already available for purchase.