Day 6 of the OIFF in Kyiv: Experts Discuss the Current and Future of Ukrainian Film Production

On September 29, the 16th Odesa International Film Festival continued to give the audience vivid cinematic impressions and important industry events. This day's program combined retrospective screenings, competition films and special premieres, as well as a professional conversation about film production in wartime.

The day began with a retrospective by Carlos Saura, which included the screening of the film "Faster, Faster". It was followed by the premiere of the film "A Year in the Life of a Country" directed by Tomasz Wolski, which was included in the "Focus on Poland" program As part of the Best of Europe program, viewers saw the film ‘The Village Next to Paradise” directed by Mo Harave.

The “Family Values” section was presented with several works that day. The “Children”program premiered the film “Lioness” by Liina Trishkina-Vangatalo. The “Life” program featured three films with different genres and moods: “Family Affairs” by Carolina Afrika, “They Will Be Dust” by Carlos Márquez-Marcet, and “Tell Her I Love Her” by Romana Boringer.

The Wim Wenders retrospective continued with the screening of “Kings of the Road”. The European competition program of that day included two works at once: “Vitriva – The Most Beautiful Village in the World” by directors Noel Basten and Baptiste Bogert and “The Delight of the Garden” by Fernando Colomo.

The program “Festival of Ukrainian Festivals” showed the film “Axe” by Volodymyr Bakum. For him, this premiere at the OIFF had a deep symbolism: “I have my own history of relations with the film festival. I entered the I. K. Karpenko-Kary KNUTKiT in 2015 and since 2016 I started submitting student works to the festival. I really dreamed of coming and showing how cool I am. But I was not accepted throughout my studies. Then Covid began, and later the festival canceled short film screenings. And this gestalt has remained with me until now. Today it is finally closing. Thank you!”, admitted the director.

The film producer Artem Golubev emphasized that the work on "Axe" was not easy, but as honest as possible to the author's idea: "The budget was enough for us to film six times in the Carpathians for 35 shooting days with breaks. As a producer, it was important for me to do everything so that the director's idea was implemented exactly as he wanted. And, I think, together with the team, we achieved this. The director had complete authorial freedom, and the film is definitely worth watching."

The presentation of the film "My Magical World" by Elvin Adigozel took place in the "Gala Premieres" section. The day ended with the screening of the work "Attention: Children!" by Svitlana Rudyuk from the National Documentary Competition Program. The film tells the stories of children who survived the war and shows how traumatic experiences affect their lives.

“It was important for me that the filming process became a kind of film therapy for the children, so that through conversations and reminiscences they could get rid of at least some of their fears and pain. And they not only told their stories, but also let us into their hearts, into the most fragile memories. This is very valuable. It is about the trust that was built. It is about the feeling of safety that was created on the set. And for us it is very important that the Ukrainian audience sees the film "Attention: Children!" first, so that our people hear and feel these stories. I believe that this film will be understandable to each of us,” the director admitted.

In addition to the film screenings, an important event of the day was the master class “How to Successfully Make a Feature Film in Wartime” — a conversation with Anna Yatsenko, who shared her work experience and the challenges of modern film production. “I wanted you to have the feeling that anyone can make a successful festival film. "To do this, it is important not to wait for a big producer, but to prepare the project yourself - to have a script, treatment, participate in script laboratories. And most importantly - to talk about your story, get to know people, negotiate, because the festival path is based on networking. In war, we work the same way as without war: we look for new solutions, postpone filming, but we always leave the main thing - our identity and authenticity," the producer emphasized.

The Odesa International Film Festival is supported by:

Ukrainian State Film Agency

The European Union and Creative Europe Desk Ukraine

Adam Mickiewicz Institute “Instytut Adama Mickiewicza”

Polish Institute in Kyiv

German Films

In partnership with the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine

Official Sponsor – ARARAT

Official Automotive Partner – BMW Ukraine

General Partner of Film Industry Office – UPHub

Official jewelry partner - Carrera Y Carrera General

Technological Partner -Hisense