Poland. Ukraine! 8th Film Festival. There are over 60 films to watch

​Over 60 films and nearly 20 accompanying events are included in the Ukraine program! 8th Film Festival, which will take place on October 18-24 in Warsaw. "The goal of our festival has always been to show and promote contemporary Ukrainian cinema and its creators," said Beata Biedrońska-Lach, director of the event.

As the director emphasized, Ukraine! Beata Biedrońska-Lach Film Festival, the event has been organized since 2016 and has become a gesture of solidarity with the Ukrainian nation, which is fighting the Russian aggressor.

The 2022 festival was special, warm, touching and full of emotions. Despite the problems, creators from Ukraine came to us. After the films, there were very emotional meetings, full of emotions and tears, with Polish and Ukrainian viewers who told how they had to leave their country and flee to Poland. It is 2023 and the war in Ukraine continues. Some of the creators are still fighting, some have left Ukraine. Due to the lack of funding, fewer new productions are created. Therefore, we were afraid that we would not be able to create a film program consisting of new productions, which was always the goal of our festival: to show and promote contemporary Ukrainian cinema and its creators. Fortunately, our fears were not confirmed," said Beata Biedrońska-Lach.

The program of the 8th edition of the review included over 60 feature films, documentaries and short films, as well as nearly 20 accompanying events, including photography exhibitions, debates, performances, workshops for children and a concert.

There will also be an industry meeting for filmmakers: a panel for Ukrainian actors with Polish casting directors, a meeting of Polish and Ukrainian filmmakers entitled "Women of Film" and masterclasses - master courses in directing and screenwriting, conducted by outstanding Ukrainian creators. We have invited almost 50 guests from Ukraine and Poland who will take part in meetings after the films, including Irma Vitowska, Segiej Bukowski, Achtem Seltablayew, Antoniu Lukich and from Poland: Agata Buzek, Maciek Hamela, Karina Będkowska - informed the festival director.

"Different faces of Ukraine"

We want to show feature films that did not have time to premiere in 2022, such as the historical film "Dovbush" by Olesi Sanin - which premiered in Ukraine in August this year, and will premiere in Poland next year - or the culinary comedy " Taste of Freedom", dir. Alexandr Berezan, which will premiere in Ukraine only in March 2024. Feature films show Ukraine before a full-scale war, says the festival director.

They show characters struggling with the problems of loneliness, breakup and growing up, like "Kings of Rap", dir. Myroslav Latyk, or "My thoughts are silent" and "Luxembourg, Luxembourg" by Antoniu Lukich. Some feature films refer to the 1990s in Ukraine, such as the film "Do You Love Me?", already known in Poland, directed by Tonya Noyabrova, "Stone. Paper. Garnet", dir. Iryna Tsilyk, or a film of closure, a crime film shot with a video camera "La Palisiada", dir. Philip Sotnychenko. But there will be no shortage of films reminding us that Russia's aggression against Ukraine has been ongoing since 2014, such as the war drama "Myrnyj-21", directed by Akhtem Seitablayev, about the border guard in Lugansk - said Biedrońska-Lach.

Main competition in the feature and documentary film category

"As part of the competition, 13 feature films and 11 documentaries will be shown. The jury will include: Joanna Kos-Krauze (director), Jowita Budnik (actress), Oleksandr Pozdnyakov. The documentary film jury will include Natalia Koryncka-Gruz (screenwriter, director), Sergey Bukvsky (director), Jakub Majmurek (film critic). We have to wait until the last day of the festival to see the effect," Biedrońska-Lach said.
The competition for the best short film will be held for the third time. "The competition was open to productions from Ukrainian, Polish and other countries, provided that they had some connections with Ukraine, e.g. through the subject matter, place of production or the participation of Ukrainian actors or creators.

200 films were submitted. This clearly shows the huge interest in our competition. From these submissions, we selected 22 films that will be shown at the festival and assessed by the jury. Our festival is truly international.

The films come not only from Poland and Ukraine, but also from other countries. It is important that they have some connection with Ukraine, which may concern the subject matter, place of production or the participation of Ukrainian artists - explained the festival director.

Ukraine! The 8th Film Festival will be held on October 18-24 at Kinoteka, Amondo cinema and the Andrzej Wajda Film Culture Center in Warsaw, and from October 27 to November 12 in an online format.

In October, November and December the event will also come to other Polish cities, including: Wrocław, Kraków, Poznań, Opole, Gdańsk, Gliwice, Płock and Gorzów Wielkopolski.