The 17th Odesa International Film Festival to Present the “Women in the Military: Eight Years of Visibility” Special Programme in Partnership with the VETERANKA Movement

The 17th Odesa International Film Festival, in partnership with the VETERANKA Movement, will present the special programme Women in the Military: Eight Years of Visibility.

Founded in 2018, the VETERANKA Movement is Ukraine’s first and only community of women with combat experience. Today, it brings together more than 3,000 active servicewomen and women veterans. In 2018, thanks to the organisation’s advocacy efforts, 63 combat positions previously closed to women were officially opened to female service members. In 2026, the Movement successfully advocated for the adoption of Law No. 13037, establishing a legal mechanism to combat harassment in the Armed Forces.

The Women in the Military: Eight Years of Visibility programme features documentary films and documentary series exploring the experiences of Ukrainian women in the military from the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War to the present day. This year, the Odesa International Film Festival will take place in Kyiv from 27 August to 4 September with the support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

The films presented as part of the Women in the Military: Eight Years of Visibility programme include:

Invisible Battalion (2017), directed by Iryna Tsilyk, Svitlana Lishchynska, and Alina Gorlova

Invisible Battalion tells six stories of Ukrainian servicewomen. The protagonists differ in age, profession, and life experience, yet all were brought together by war. The documentary was created as part of the human rights initiative of the same name, dedicated to advancing the rights of women in Ukraine’s security and defence sector.

Cuba & Alaska (2025), directed by Yehor Troyanovskyi

Cuba & Alaska follows two close friends, frontline combat medics, and members of the VETERANKA Movement as they save lives on the front line. Together, they face the daily realities of war, relying on humour and friendship to support one another. At the same time, the war increasingly distances them from their loved ones and the lives they once knew.

GENERATION 2014 (2025), directed by Yevhen Tytarenko

A six-part documentary-drama series about the volunteer medical battalion “Hospitallers”. The film director Yevhen Tytarenko worked on the project for ten years, following its protagonists from the outbreak of the war in 2014 through to the full-scale invasion. The series tells the story of people who have spent more than a decade saving lives on the front line and who continue their mission during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

Don't Ask Me If I Killed (2026), directed by Olena Maksom

A deeply personal wartime diary filmed by director Olena Maksom over more than one thousand days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. After the war began, she voluntarily joined the Armed Forces and later combined military service with documenting frontline reality. The film explores the experiences of people forced to live and fight under the constant threat of war.

The Women in the Military: Eight Years of Visibility programme brings together stories filmed at different stages of the war by different filmmakers, all connected through a shared experience. Together, these films document the profound transformations that Ukrainian society, the Armed Forces, and individuals have undergone over the past decade.

Festival passes for the 17th Odesa International Film Festival are available for purchase via the festival’s website: https://new.oiff.com.ua/en/festivalpass