From 17 to 20 September, the Curzon Soho cinema in London will host the Ukrainian Film Festival, this year themed “Healing”, the Ukrainian Institute London reports.
This year’s festival aims to explore how people support one another during the war, care for their communities, preserve hope and find the strength to carry on with their lives.
On 17 September, the festival will screen Pavel Ostrikov’s feature film “U Are the Universe”, about a space trucker who becomes the only surviving human after an explosion destroys Earth, until a French scientist named Catherine makes contact with him.
On 18 September, audiences will see the first feature film about the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, “Decay”, directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Mykhaylo Byelikov in 1990.
The 19 September programme includes six short films featuring Ukrainian women’s voices, as well as Anton Shtuka’s documentary “The Last Prometheus of Donbas”, which portrays Ukrainian energy workers continuing to operate the Kurakhove Thermal Power Plant despite Russian attacks.
On 20 September, the festival will screen “Militantropos”, a documentary by Alina Gorlova, Yelyzaveta Smith and Semen Mozghovyi about the transformation of human nature during wartime.
The screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the directors.
The Ukrainian Film Festival is curated by Olha Sydorushkina, programme curator at the Ukrainian Institute London, with the support of Film Hub London, run by Film London. The festival is organised in partnership with the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the UK National Lottery.
About the Ukrainian Film Festival:
- an annual festival of contemporary and classic Ukrainian cinema initiated by the Ukrainian Institute London;
- Ukrainian Film Days were held in London in 2019, while the Ukrainian Film Festival was launched in 2020;
- each year, the festival adopts a new concept exploring Ukrainian identity;
- last year’s theme was “Through Love and Loss”.