The world premiere of Euphoria, directed by Julian Rosefeldt, will take place on 28 January at the Göteborg Film Festival in Sweden. The project was partially filmed in Kyiv, including at the city’s central railway station and other locations. This was reported by Family Production, whose team coordinated the Ukrainian segment of the shoot. The film features Cate Blanchett, who voices a tiger (she was also scheduled to visit Kyiv in January 2022). Filming was interrupted by the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“Our film may have been the last international production shot in Ukraine before the invasion on 24 February 2022,” Euphoria director Julian Rosefeldt recalled.
The Ukrainian segment of the shoot was organised by the Ukrainian production company Family. The collaboration was arranged through fellow directors, who invited Julian Rosefeldt to Kyiv, helped select locations he fell in love with, and even prompted him to rewrite parts of the script specifically for them. “This part of the story is especially moving for us,” producer Anastasiya Bukovska says. “Filming in Kyiv became a symbol of the time ‘before’. And despite everything, art goes on.”
Euphoria was originally conceived as a video installation consisting of six cinematic episodes exploring capitalism, human greed, and existential emptiness. The project was later transformed into a feature-length film. Filming took place in New York, Sofia, Berlin, and Kyiv, with the Ukrainian segment shot in February 2022 — just weeks before Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The war ultimately forced production to be halted.
The Ukrainian segment of the production was organised by Family Production. The team secured the collaboration through their network of fellow directors, invited Julian Rosefeldt to Kyiv, and selected locations that impressed him so deeply that he rewrote parts of the script specifically for them. One of the film’s key scenes — set in a bank — was shot at Kyiv’s Central Railway Station.
The film also features Cate Blanchett, who lends her voice to a tiger. The actress had planned to travel to Kyiv in January 2022, but those plans were derailed by the outbreak of war. Rosefeldt himself notes that Euphoria was likely the last international film project to be shot in Ukraine before 24 February 2022.
“This part of the story is especially poignant for us,” says producer and Family Production co-founder Anastasiya Bukovska. “Filming in Kyiv became a symbol of the time ‘before’. We were forced to halt production due to the start of the full-scale invasion. And despite everything, art lives on. The story of Euphoria continues now in the format of a feature-length film.”
Director Julian Rosefeldt also recalls his collaboration with the Ukrainian team as a unique experience. Over just a few days of filming, the international crew not only worked together but became a close-knit community that stayed connected after the war began. According to Rosefeldt, once peace returns to Ukraine, international filmmakers will come back to work in the country — and he personally will recommend collaborating with Family Production.