Hanging out with friends, smoking a lot, spinning bottles and kissing, making mistakes, playing, refusing to accept, dreaming with open eyes - life as a teenager can be overwhelmingly beautiful and difficult at the same time. In her debut, the Ukrainian director composes a deeply emotional and multi-layered portrait of a generation whilst seamlessly flowing between the fictional and the documental.
30 thousand Hasidim journey to Uman in Ukraine to celebrate the Jewish New Year at the gravesite of Rebbe Nachmann. A Ukrainian far-right group erects a cross at the site of Hasidic prayers and builds a monument to Cossacks who slaughtered thousands of Jews and Poles in 1768.
White winter blizzard covers everything. We can rely now only on saints, on our prayers. The future has sailed away, with us left behind. Astray, we did not board the magic ship. The task at hand is simple — not to perish in the fog, not to die from the cold, not to get trapped under the ice. Not to fall in our own snares. Or are we all in one big trap anyway? Running around in a small circle, counting those who vanished.
The Volhynian massacre remains a taboo subject for the next generations of Poles and Ukrainians. Karolina’s family spoke about the events in which their relatives were murdered behind a closed door only. To discover the truth about her ancestors, Karolina sets off on a journey to Volhynia.
Ivan Prykhodko is one of the last folk artists in Ukraine. He is self-taught, lives in the countryside, and everything that comes from under his brushes is naive and honest art.
A "direct cinema" documentary that explores the art and inner workings of the major art institution in Kyiv, Ukraine. Two special exhibitions - one dedicated to the Ukrainian baroque and another one to a prominent avant-garde artist - are the two defining events in the film's narrative.
Kozak Vasil with the children adjusts the Christmas star so that in the evening the children could congratulate the godparents with carols. Vasyl's wife, Katerina, is preparing festive dinner at the stove. Lonely, aloof from the community in the village lives the Kozak-Kharakternik Godfather.
Oleh Bazylevych, the favorite forward of Kyiv Dynamo fans, could have remained just a player in the history of Ukrainian football. But he decided to become a coach. And it was the beginning of the new page for him. The story of Bazylevych's life reminds the action novel with its dangerous rises, terrific falls, extraordinary voyages, and mystery adventures.
The film documents the life of one of the oldest and largest European markets. Passion on both sides of the counter, loaders’ dreams, hidden fantasies of fish sellers… Security guards and flea market manager share their thoughts about the universe and the meaning of life. The past, the present, the future, and other gypsy predictions, “the most correct weight” and generous portions on trial. There are all the kinds of town folks at the Pryvoz. They are exposed and revealed! Everybody comes here, and everyone finds something to him/herself. Someone who searches for miracles or metamorphoses – in destiny, human soul, and time – also would not go out of there with empty hands.
Michail is an artist. He is working on a series of paintings called "Franz Kafka's Diary". His son Daniel is thirty-four, and yet his life is hardly separable from the life of his father. He is deaf and mute, and suffers from a severe form of cerebral palsy. Michail is determined and energetic, Daniel - persistent and charismatic. And they are a striking couple. The film offers a detailed observation of two interconnected characters.
A lot of events take place in the Jewish town on the eve of Saturday. We must have time to visit everywhere and see everything. Only the story of the prophet remains untold. Ukrainian animation based on Jewish folklore.
During World War II the Kyiv Film Studio relocates to Ashgabat, which will provide a safe haven for many Soviet filmmakers. This is where, thousands of miles from the front line, one of the most famous war films in the history of cinema will be made.
There is a rumor in the Kyiv musical community: once upon a time, in private conversation, Queen Elizabeth II mentioned Valentyn Silvestrov as one of her favorite composers of the modern age. The Royal Press Office hasn’t confirmed it, so no one knows for sure. But the stature of Silvestrov justifies this rumor. Highly respected by the world’s best music professionals, he remains a mystery for a wide audience. The documentary is far from a traditional biopic about a prominent person. It is an observation, a confession and, most of all, a story of great talent set against the backdrop of uncertain times.
A film about the coexistence of two relations of human consciousness and universal reality. No one knows what reality is. Consciousness can be submissive and different. The different one floats in the flow of unjust world order.
On the planet of savages, an expedition lands. Astronauts conduct research, and the natives only watch the aliens. After the departure of the expedition, the natives copy the astronauts, hoping that their life will become just as serene. But the imitation of activity is not the activity itself, and results can be expected until the second coming.
