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The 17th Odesa International Film Festival, taking place in Kyiv from 27 August to 4 September, will present a retrospective dedicated to the acclaimed Ukrainian filmmaker Serhii Bukovskyi.
The retrospective spans more than three decades of work by one of Ukraine’s most distinguished documentary directors. Bukovskyi’s films offer a profound exploration of history through individual human stories—from the realities of everyday life under the Soviet system and the silenced tragedies of the twentieth century to intimate portraits of artists, intellectuals, and people who, across different eras, embodied freedom and dignity.
Throughout his career, Serhii Bukovskyi has developed a distinctive documentary style that combines deep humanism, historical precision, and an exceptional sensitivity to the voice of the individual. His films have received international acclaim and have become an integral part of Ukraine’s cinematic heritage. This year, Bukovskyi was honoured with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Ukrainian Cinema at the 10th Golden Dzyga National Film Awards.
Presented in chronological order, the retrospective traces the director’s artistic journey from his earliest works to his most recent films.
Tomorrow Is a Holiday (1987)
Bukovskyi’s directorial debut is a subtle satirical observation of everyday life at the Morozivka poultry farm in the Kyiv region. Although its release was delayed for seven months after being accused of "slandering Soviet reality," the film went on to become one of the landmark documentaries of the Perestroika era.
A Dream (1989)
Here, Bukovskyi first confronts the subject of the Holodomor through the story of Kaniv local historian Ishchenko, who devoted his life to preserving historical memory. Opening with lines from Taras Shevchenko’s poem of the same title, the film tells the story of villages along the Dnipro River transformed by the Soviet construction of a cascade of hydroelectric power stations.
The Roof (1989)
Set in a sixteenth-century monastery in Volyn that serves as a refuge for elderly people, individuals with mental illnesses, and former prisoners, the film quietly observes the rhythm of everyday life. Beneath its seemingly simple scenes lies a metaphor for the Soviet value system, where care and control coexist.
Spell Your Name (2006)
Twenty years after its Kyiv premiere, the film returns to the big screen. It explores the human dimension of one of the twentieth century’s greatest tragedies. Built around video testimonies of Holocaust survivors in Ukraine recorded between 1994 and 1998 by the foundation established by Steven Spielberg, the documentary also tells the stories of the Righteous Among the Nations who rescued Jewish children and entire families during the Second World War.
The Living (2008)
Continuing Bukovskyi’s exploration of the Holodomor, the film intertwines two narratives: the voices of survivors of Stalin’s man-made famine, silenced for decades, and the diary entries of British journalist Gareth Jones, written during his journey through Ukraine in March 1933. Through personal testimonies and the story of a journalist determined to tell the world the truth, the film restores the memory of a tragedy that was deliberately concealed for decades.
Ukraine. Starting Point (2011)
Three years that forever changed the political map of the world and marked the birth of independent Ukraine. Through testimonies by key participants—including Leonid Kravchuk, Stanislav Shushkevich, Gennady Burbulis, James Baker, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and leading Ukrainian intellectuals—Bukovskyi reconstructs the events of 1989–1991, combining exclusive interviews with rare archival footage.
The Leading Role (2016)
An intimate and deeply personal story about talent, freedom, and the sacrifices born of love. This portrait of Bukovskyi’s mother, actress Nina Antonova, who appeared in nearly one hundred films yet experienced true fame only once, becomes a meditation on the acting profession, the passage of time, memory, and the price of a life devoted to cinema. At the same time, the director attempts to better understand himself through understanding his mother.
V. Silvestrov (2020)
A portrait of a contemporary classical composer set against the winter landscapes of Kyiv’s Left Bank. The film follows Valentyn Sylvestrov, whose music evolved from the avant-garde movement of the 1960s—pushed to the margins by Soviet socialist realism—to works that have achieved worldwide recognition. Rather than a conventional biography, the film is a contemplative and deeply personal reflection on the artist’s unique character and emotional depth.
Ivan and Marta (2022)
A story of great love unfolding against the backdrop of great history. Ivan Dziuba—literary scholar, critic, one of the leading voices of the Ukrainian Sixtiers movement, and author of Internationalism or Russification?, a seminal work of intellectual resistance—is remembered through the recollections of his wife, Marta Dziuba. Through her memories, Bukovskyi creates a tender portrait of two people who spent more than sixty years together, united by love, creativity, and their commitment to Ukrainian culture.
Festival passes for the 17th Odesa International Film Festival are available via the link: https://new.oiff.com.ua/en/choose-your-pass-2026