In 2024, several Ukrainian films made it to prestigious international festivals. This year, from January 26 to February 4, the 47th Gothenburg International Film Festival will feature four Ukrainian films.
In the International Competition section, the drama “Do You Love Me?” (“Ty Mene Liubysh?”), directed by Tonya Noyabryova, will be shown. The film depicts the coming-of-age story of 17-year-old Kira, set in Kyiv in 1991, precisely at the turning point of the era when the Soviet Union was collapsing. Kira struggles with the breakup of her family, the collapse of illusions, and the disappearance of one country and the emergence of another. The multifaceted theme of independence, both personal and national, becomes highly significant in the film. The film director said in an interview with Vogue: “I am convinced that personal feelings are always much stronger than social ones. And we perceive any social aspect through the prism of our own state of mind and our personal life. Therefore, there are no events in a country that affect a person more than the destruction of their family. It just doesn’t happen; it’s unnatural. For me – time is the background. “Do You Love Me?” is not a story about the nineties; the historic timeframe is just decoration where the personal drama unfolds. Parental separation and the search for oneself in the space of love take centre stage”.
In the Voyage section, viewers and the jury anticipate three Ukrainian films.
“The Souvenir Photo” (“Foto na Pamyat”), a co-production of Ukraine, Germany, and France, is directed by Olha Chernykh. It is a partially autobiographical story of one family, exemplified by three generations of women, during the war. The plot is based on the director’s observations of her family, who was forced to move from Donetsk to Kyiv in 2014. Olha Chernykh comments on the idea of her film: “When the full-scale Russian invasion began, I realised that I needed to rethink the visual-emotional form of the film, find a different cinematic language. It was important for me to convey the sense of loss of time and space when we suddenly find ourselves in a state where the past, present, and future are closely intertwined. This story is not about my family; it is about all of us.”
“Home Behind the Glass” (“Dim za Sklom”), directed by Taras Dronya, revolves around the architect Victoria, who faces a challenging life situation when her daughter disappears with her boyfriend. He is accused of drug trafficking. Victoria initiates her own investigation, attempting to prove her daughter’s innocence to clear her reputation and avoid losing a crucial project. The director describes his film for the Detector Media outlet: “For me, this is not just a movie; it’s a kind of exploration of the interaction between an individual and society. The film is about the impact of societal rules and norms on the development of individuality, leading to the transformation of a person into either a leader or an outcast. The investigation initiated by the main character delves deep into the subconscious and raises the complex question of a person: who they really are and what price they pay for self-assertion.”
“Photophobia” (a co-production of Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Slovakia), directed by Ivan Ostrokhovsky and Pavol Pekarčík, revolves around 12-year-old Niki, who, along with his family, lives in the Kharkiv metro station, where they hide from the war. The fear of daylight, as declared in the title, is a symptom of the times for Niki’s family, associated with mortal danger, so they do not allow the boy to go outside. Ivan Ostrokhovsky, one of the film’s directors, shared insights into the filming process on the program “Culture in Time,” broadcast on the Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne. Culture: “When we arrived at the metro station in Kharkiv, there were about 1000 people there, and everyone was telling us some tragic story. However, we focused on showing children because they had a completely different mood. The atmosphere was a bit depressing, and we didn’t want to intensify it even more. We tried to portray a short story of how a 12-year-old boy grows up and finds himself in such a time. A regular life story during the war.”
From February 15 to 25 of this year, the 74th Berlin International Film Festival will take place, featuring three Ukrainian films.
Two Ukrainian films will be part of the Forum program.
“Editorial” (“Redaktsiya”), directed by Roman Bondarchuk, focuses on his native Kherson region. The film follows the story of Yura, a young researcher at the Natural History Museum, who attempts to save rare animals from destruction in the wild steppes and forests of Southern Ukraine, searching for the elusive steppe beetle. However, Yura becomes a witness to a forest fire and submits photos of the arsonists along with his article to the local newspaper. Yet, these topics do not interest anyone there. Eventually, he continues his struggle against the local officials, remaining to work in the local editorial office. In the press release, the director said: “For the entire film crew, “Editorial” is more than just a film. It is a unique experience that tested the limits of our capabilities and changed our lives. While editing it, we returned to our hometowns, many of which are now under occupation, others were destroyed, and memories of those places exist only on the screen… For us, this is also an opportunity to talk about Ukraine and to remind us about the need to support our struggle at one of the most influential film festivals in the world. A struggle in which, in December 2022, defending Ukraine, the heroic film editor Victor Onysko tragically lost his life, and in December 2023, the actor for the Bdzholyar role, Vasyl Kukharsky, also died”.
“Peaceful People” (“Myrni Liudy”), a co-production of Canada, France, and Ukraine, directed by Svitlana Karpovych, explores the journeys through hotspots in Ukraine and the distorted reality of phone calls made by the Russian military to their families, starkly contrasting the brutal reality of war in Ukraine. The director shares the idea behind her film: “When the full-scale invasion of Russia began, I was in Ukraine and unexpectedly started working as a local producer for Al Jazeera English. Through this work, I witnessed Russian war crimes in various regions of Ukraine. At night, after work, I developed a habit of listening to ‘intercepts’—phone calls from Russian soldiers in Ukraine to their families. The disparity between the harsh reality I lived during the day and what I heard at night was shocking. In the intercepts, Russians sounded human. Yet, I couldn’t comprehend why these people act in such inhumane ways?”
Also, a Ukrainian film will be featured in the Panorama Dokumente program.
The cinematic journey of “A Bit Foreign” (“Trishky Chuzha”), directed by Svitlana Lishchynska, delves into the enduring colonial legacy of perspectives, ideologies, and language enforced by the Soviet Union, a legacy that left an indelible mark on the Lishchynska family. The Mariupol-born director engages in profound conversations on these themes with multiple generations of her family, exploring family archives filled with photos and documents. She talks about the essence of her film to the Hromadske channel: “I recognise that I am not alone; many people from Eastern Ukraine share a similar struggle. I am driven to initiate a quest for identity among those in the Russified regions of Ukraine, ensuring that Russia never again manipulates the collective consciousness. I aim to discover a foundation to hold onto, a catalyst for our resistance. It’s about understanding the mistakes we must rectify, what to let go, and what to construct anew”.
It’s worth noting that the Berlinale is one of the three most renowned film festivals in Europe, alongside Cannes and Venice, founded in 1951. The Gothenburg Film Festival, first held in 1979, is the largest film forum in Scandinavia, playing a significant role in shaping contracts within this industry.
