King Lear: How We Looked for Love During the War

Tales of a Toy Horse

February 2021 •Ukrainian

In his own way, Anatoli Ljutuk is a legend of Tallinn's Old Town - a man from Western Ukraine who has built a unique world on Laboratory Street, the main core of which is the Ukrainian Cultural Center and Church. There, he engages in calligraphy, makes paper in a medieval way, carves traditional wooden toys in his workshop and makes books in the spirit of old monasteries. According to the oath taken a quarter of a century ago, he has promised to create something good every day. His daily commitment is challenged by the war that broke out in Ukraine, which Anatoly cannot passively ignore.

Long Echo

April 2020 •German

Dobropolye is a town located in Eastern Ukraine: 70 km from the border where conflicts with the breakaway republics are raging on and people feel always like being on the verge of total war. The sheer uncertainty about the future pushes folks to cling on to their daily habits while trying to get along with the ever-shifting political landscape. A wide array of wildly diversified characters try to cope as good as they can with the hardships in their town. A death metal band keeps rehearsing daily. A teacher guides visitors through the story of the city. The wonders of a vibrating armchair are tested as a tool against stress and anxiety. An elderly lady who has lost her son tries to talk some sense into her fellow citizens urging them to accept peace.

The Hamlet Syndrome

August 2022 •German

Five young Ukrainians discuss life following the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Not all fought in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it, regardless, shattered their life plans. Representing 'Generation Maidan', they face the question of how to cope with experiences of violence, how to go on. A local theatre director produces Hamlet, wherein they can use Shakespeare’s tragic character as a mirror and face their traumas onstage. For them, 'to be or not to be' is not simply text but an existential dilemma with no clear answer.

After the Rain: Putin's Stolen Children Come Home

August 2024 •English

Deep in a forest by the Baltic Sea, a group of Ukrainian families come together to start the healing process with the help of golden retrievers and palamino horses at an animal therapy retreat. In the safety of the forest, the children’s memories of being illegally deported to Russia and their families’ struggles to rescue them are unraveled with the help of skilled and sensitive counsellors. The joy and humour the children discover during their time in the forest make it easy to forget that their stories are the reason the International Criminal Court recently issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. Nearly 20,000 abducted children remain in Russian institutions.

Searching for Nika

August 2023 •Ukrainian

Returning to Kyiv to search for his missing dog during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, director Stas Kapralov documents his journey as he joins forces with volunteers and becomes part of a movement to rescue animals caught in the crossfire of war.

The First Code

November 2023 •Ukrainian

This story is a journey through time, starting from the 1950s with the creation of the first computer by Ukrainian engineers, and continuing until the present day when the IT sector has become not only a powerful industry but also an important front in the war against Russia.

Mariupolis 2

November 2022 •Russian

In 2022, Mantas Kvedaravičius went back to Ukraine, Mariupol, at the heart of the war, to be with the people he had met and filmed in 2015. Following his death, his producers and collaborators have put all their strength into continuing transmitting his work, his vision and his films. Also a PhD in anthropology, Mantas Kvedaravičius wished to testify as a filmmaker as far as possible from the agitation of the media and the politicians. With huge force and sensitivity, Mariupolis 2 depicts life as it continues amidst the bombing and reveals images that convey both tragedy and hope.

REBUFF 10/10. HOW UKRAINIAN CULTURE DEFEATS RUSSIAN MISSILES

Invalid date •Ukrainian

On the morning of October 10, editor Yury Marchenko was supposed to be running through Shevchenko Park, near his home, at the same time as the Russian rockets hit it. One of them — to the playground, the other — to the intersection of Shevchenko Boulevard and Volodymyrska Street. The blast wave damaged "strategic" objects: museums, educational institutions, restaurants, galleries, hospitals, the Ministry of Education, the Teacher's House and the protective structure around the monument to Mykhailo Hrushevskyi. We are looking for an answer not only with Yuriy Marchenko, but also with volunteer Serhii Prytula, architect Slava Balbek, historian Oleksandr Palii, military expert Serhii Kuzan, deputy director of the National Science and Natural History Museum of the National Academy of Sciences Oksana Chervonenko and director of the Khanenko Museum Yulia Vaganova.

Fighting with music: the history of the Luhansk Philharmonic Orchestra

Invalid date •Ukrainian

Gathering together dozens of his musicians, providing them with housing and work in Lviv, organising the evacuation of instruments from under fire, and continuing to perform: this is the second time that the director of the Luhansk Philharmonic, Ihor Shapovalov, has revived the orchestra. Back in 2015, after being rescued from Luhansk, Sievierodonetsk became his home. In seven years, Igor has managed not only to staff the orchestra, but also to establish links with orchestras from Europe and different parts of Ukraine, and to show that Luhansk region has always been, is and will be Ukrainian. Today, the battle for Sievierodonetsk is ongoing, and Russia's large-scale invasion is putting the musicians in front of new challenges. But they remember why it is worth taking to the stage again and again, to spread Ukrainian and European culture.

Piece by Piece

Invalid date •Ukrainian

To travel all over Ukraine, collect 25 casts of Ukrainian girls' bodies and make a sculpture out of them for Independence Day. Ceramist Slavik Pasynok spent the summer creating his project ‘The One’. To do this, he made a cast of a certain part of a girl's body in each region. He formed a sculpture from the casts, and the UA: Culture team filmed the process. Is it possible to assemble something unified from different parts?

A Good Year

December 2020 •Ukrainian

A year ago, on 29 December 2019, prisoners were exchanged with the self-proclaimed ‘LPR’ and ‘DPR’. Among the Ukrainians who returned home were journalist Stanislav Aseyev, tanker Bohdan Pantiushenko, and human rights activist Andriy Yarovoi. Four months earlier, on 7 September, Crimeans Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko were released from Russian colonies. We spoke to the former prisoners about their first year of freedom.

Camp Courage

October 2023 •English

Made refugees by the war in Ukraine, Olga and her granddaughter Milana travel to a summer camp in the Austrian Alps to test the limits of their own bravery, and to strengthen their growing bond.

Zelenskyy: Spirit of Ukraine

December 2023 •English

On February 24th, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has since killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed entire cities. Despite international appeals for Volodymyr Zelensky, and his family, to be evacuated to a safe location during the opening days of the invasion, the 44-year-old president stayed in Kyiv with his defence forces. It's hard to imagine how this bright, comedic, family man, has ended up in one of the most dangerous positions in the world, with a giant target on his back. 10 months on, and still fighting from the ground, Zelensky has been named TIME Person of the Year 2022. With comparisons to Winston Churchill, as a war time leader, his impact is undeniable. Utilising his acting skills he is embodying everything it means to have the spirit of Ukraine.

Iron Butterflies

July 2023 •Ukrainian

This lesson in political revelation focuses on the shooting down of the Malaysian passenger jet MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. A meticulous, investigative exposé that lays bare the mechanisms of Russian warfare.

At the heart of European diplomacy

July 2024 •French

Alma Anciana

October 2024 •Portuguese

Three juxtaposing stories taking place in Portugal, Austria and Cuba create an intimate and poetic portrait of the daily lives and struggles of the elderly in an unstable world, seen through the eyes of their grandchildren.

Region of Heroes

November 2022 •Ukrainian

Film reconstruction of five real stories about the heroic deeds of the residents of Kyiv region during the Russian occupation. A story about those who heroically and selflessly saved tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives.

The War of Chimeras

March 2017 •Ukrainian

The story of war, love and death that was documented by the immediate participants of events. Off screen and later on it are the two - a boy and a girl. He volunteered for the front; she went to the place just after the battle. He got into Ilovaysk cauldron, lost his closest brother-soldiers. She, while travelling along the ruined towns, strives to understand the essence of war and love. Both tell openly one another about their feelings during the war, escaping the cauldron, a try to live together after, and a common trip to the frontline.

Oh Brave New Home

June 2024 •Ukrainian

A story about children and adults who migrated from eastern Ukraine because of the war and found themselves far from home in a hostel for displaced people. This is a film about the everyday life and pain of refugees, about the search for small details that give strength to live and about adults who are tired of war. It is a self-reflection of refugees who believe that they will soon return home, without a clear understanding of when this will be possible and what awaits them there.

The Nightingale Sings

November 2019 •Ukrainian

The movie explores the origin of the Ukrainian language and persecution of those who defended its authenticity. Using examples of other countries, creators of the film prove that a nation cannot exist without a language.