Since its inception in 2000, the MFI Script 2 Film programme has contributed to the development of more than 500 film and television projects.
Tragedy is being produced by the Ukrainian production company ForeFilms, founded in 2020 by Anna Yatsenko and Volodymyr Yatsenko. The company has previously worked on films such as Antonio Lukich’s Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Iryna Tsilik’s Me and Felix, Valentyn Vasyanovich’s Reflection, and Pavlo Ostrikov’s U Are the Universe — the highest-grossing Ukrainian feature film of 2025.
The events of Tragedy take place in the future, after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The protagonist, Yuriy, a philosophy professor who has lost all interest in life following the death of his wife, unexpectedly finds himself in a world where the ancient Greek gods have returned to Earth. Together with his student Kolya, he embarks on a journey across Ukraine in search of the realm of the dead, hoping to bring back their loved ones.
The film combines elements of fantasy, an adventure road movie, and a deeply moving human story about loss, memory, hope and the ability to continue living after experiencing profound pain.
Anna Yatsenko, a producer at ForeFilms, said: “Tragedy is a highly ambitious project by Pavlo Ostrikov that combines a universal human story with a unique Ukrainian context, and we hope that participation in the MFI Script 2 Film workshop will help make it even stronger. For us, taking part in this programme is an important stage in the project’s development. The workshop brings together leading international experts and screenwriters, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to develop the screenplay in such an environment.”
Pavlo Ostrikov is a Ukrainian director and screenwriter, best known for the short films Graduation of ’97 and Mia Donna, as well as the feature film U Are the Universe, which has become one of the most successful Ukrainian films of recent years and has received international acclaim at major film festivals around the world.