The short film «In Her Arms» by Ukrainian director Roman Volosevych has been included in the program of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in Australia, reports production company EF Pictures.
At the heart of the story is the married couple Heorhiy and Yaryna, who return home after his release from occupation. Russian soldiers had been living in their house. There, the couple finds a tripwire, but still tries to return to normal life. Over time, their reality becomes surreal, as the war—symbolised by the tripwire—continues to seep into the characters’ everyday lives.
MIFF is in the “Oscar-qualifying” category. This means that if the film wins in the festival’s competition program, it can be eligible for inclusion on the Oscars longlist. This year, the festival will run from 6 to 23 August. Screenings of the 20-minute short In Her Arms are scheduled for August 13 and 16.
The film was produced under the supervision of producer Zlata Yefimenko with support from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the State Agency of Ukraine for Cinema.
The screenplay was written by Roman Volosevych and Ihor Zaytsev. The cast includes Dariya Leheyda-Sova, Akmal Huriezov, Volodymyr Zakharchenko, Oleksandr Ivanov, Dmytro Konyk, and Valeriy Latko. The film’s voice cast includes Artem Karatayev, Roman Yefimenko, Marta Kuznyetsova, and Roman Volosevych.
In 2025, the film In Her Arms won an award at the Festival de Cine Europeo de Sevilla (the European Film Festival in Seville).
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is Australia’s leading annual film festival and one of the oldest film festivals in the world, founded in 1952.