From 4-8 December, the Ukrainian Film Days festival will be back at Kino Art in Brno for its 7th edition, presenting a selection of the latest and best-rated Ukrainian films and documentaries.
For the 2024 festival, films shot within the last three years will feature images from Ukraine despite immensely difficult conditions caused by the ongoing war to defend the country against the Russian invasion. The festival carefully selected images that accurately reflect the present situation, historical events, and stories from the intricate period of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The stories presented at Ukrainian Film Days have not only affected Ukraine, but also Europe. The lack of funds and difficult conditions of shooting did not stop Ukrainian filmmakers from telling their stories, achieving their aim of presenting their view of the past, present and future, to both foreign and domestic audiences, in order to make them understood by all.
Despite the foreign support for Ukrainian cinematography, this year’s festival will not feature any guest visits or an accompanying program, but all projections will be presented in their original form with Czech and English subtitles.
The film opening the 2024 festival on 4 December will be ‘The Editorial Office’ by Roman Bondarčuk, a satirical comedy about the process of creating news.
Ivan Tymčenko’s drama ‘Oxygen Station’, to be screened on 5 December, is about the fate of a group of people trapped in an underground oxygen station, offering an interesting look at relationships in difficult situations.
On 6 December, ‘La Palisiada’, an Eastern European neo-noir film, will look into the 1990s when Ukraine was in the midst of chaos and hope.
On 7 December, Kino Art will project two films. The first, ‘U Are The Universe’, by Pavel Ostrikov, explores the question of finding one’s place in the universe through love, friendship, humor and everyday absurdity. The second film, ‘Klondike’ by Maryna Er Gorbach, is a drama focused on the story of a woman facing a personal tragedy during the Donbas conflict.
On 8 December, ‘Intercepted’, a documentary directed by Oksana Karpovych, will conclude the festival by showing the audience the moral realities of contemporary Russian society through real wiretap recordings of Russian soldiers.
All of the films presented during this festival reflect the complexity of Ukraine’s past and present, offering viewers a unique opportunity to look and understand the stories that shape the country’s national identity.
Details of the festival program and individual projections can be found on the Kino Art website: www.kinoart.cz/cs/festivaly/dny-ukrajinskeho-filmu/2024 or on the festival website: https://www.facebook.com/dny.ukrajinskeho.film
