Since its independence, Ukraine has placed great emphasis on national film production. During the 30 years, cinema has gone through different periods, from stagnation to rebirth, and then to the international awards it received at the Cannes, Berlin, Locarno and Karlovy Vary film festivals. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian film heritage was threatened by the war, so we think it is even more important for more people to get to know the masterpieces of the artists, so in our article, we looked at the selection of films published in the Ukrainian Vogue magazine, prepared by Viktoriya Tigipko, head of the Supervisory Board of the Odesa International Film Festival and the Ukrainian Film Academy.
Famine 33 (1991)
Oles Yanchuk’s first feature film is about one of the biggest disasters in the history of the Ukrainian people, the Holodomor famine, which killed millions of people. Based on the novel by Vasyl Barka, “The Yellow Prince”, the film explores the tragic events through the life of the Katrannyk family of six children.
Wayfarers (2005)
Igor Stembitsky’s 2005 work was the first Ukrainian short film to win the Palme d’Or in Cannes. The series of impressionist document portraits presents people living in a nursing home, as well as patients in the psychiatric ward of a Kyiv hospital.
Gamer (2011)
Oleg Sentsov’s debut feature film shows a teenage boy who spends most of his time sitting in front of a computer playing online games. Because of his video game addiction, he throws away almost his entire life, sacrificing everything to compete with professional players in Los Angeles. The film competed in several international film festivals and was praised by many international film critics.
Donbass (2018)
If we want to understand exactly what is happening in our neighborhood right now and what events led to the outbreak of war, Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary-style film is a must! The internationally co-produced drama was awarded the Best Director Award of the Un Certain Regard selection of the Cannes Film Festival in 2018.
Stop-Zemlia (2021)
Kateryna Gornostai’s story of the romantic coming-of-age story follows the everyday life of a teenage girl, detailing the pleasures and dilemmas of social relationships. The film was first premiered at the Berlinale, where it managed to acquire the Golden Bear in the Generation 14plus category. The work received a very positive reception at an international level, as evidenced by the Grand Prix of the Odesa International Film Festival.
Source: IMDB, Urania, VogueUkraine
Cover photo: Vogue Ukraine
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