Today, on the second Saturday of September, we celebrate the Day of Ukrainian Cinema. Every year our film industry develops and sets new records. Non-standard and interesting films appear on the big screen, and the audience gradually begins to trust and admire Ukrainian cinema.
We have collected 10 cool Ukrainian films that are worth your attention.
My grandmother Fanny Kaplan
A drama of domestic production dedicated to the mysterious story of Fanny Kaplan, who allegedly made an attempt on Lenin’s life and was executed a few days later without trial or investigation. However, the film “My Grandmother Fanny Kaplan” is not about politics or revolution at all, but about one unhappy love. This lyrical and touching story tells about the difficult fate of one amazing woman who blindly loved a man and for whom she was ready to do anything – even sacrifice her own life!
Viddana (Devoted)
The film takes the viewer to Ivano-Frankivsk in the middle of the 19th century. A terrible fire claims the life of Dr. Anker’s wife, but he still managed to save his own daughter Adele. Together with his child, the doctor also carried the daughter of his servants, Stephanie, out of the fire. Now he decides to raise the girls together as family. Time passes, the girls have already grown up and live their own lives: Adele got married, and Stephanie helps her father with the housework. Both women still cannot understand who they are to each other – sisters, girlfriends, and perhaps even rivals.
This historical drama will tell the viewer about love and hate, friendship and enmity, sincerity and terrible lies.
Black Raven
A feature-length film based on the famous novel by Vasyl Shklyar “Zalishenets. Chorniy Voron, tells about the events during the period of uprisings that occurred in the Kholodnoyarsk Republic, when many people could not stay away from what was happening. The main character, nicknamed Raven, is not able to sit idly by while his fellow villagers are fighting for freedom. He has to make a difficult choice: to be surrounded by family comfort and lead a quiet life, or to enter into a fierce struggle for independence. And he chooses the second…
The one who went through the fire
A simple guy from the Poltava region, Ivan Dodoka, being a military pilot during World War II, was once captured by the Nazis. By a lucky chance, he managed to escape, but, returning to his homeland, he becomes an enemy of the people and ends up in the Gulag.
The film tells the real story of one Poltava resident who experienced all the hardships of German captivity and Stalin’s camps, and as a result, in an unexpected way, became the leader of an Indian tribe.
Cherkasy
At the beginning of the film, the viewer meets two friends – Mikhail and Leo. They are ordinary rural guys who serve on the Cherkasy ship off the coast of Crimea. It’s 2014 in the yard, the guys have no idea what kind of binding they will get into in just a few months. The ship is undergoing planned exercises, and at this time dramatic events are unfolding in the capital. The President leaves the country, and in the Crimea there are mysterious soldiers without identification marks. In general, the events of the tape tell about the occupation of Crimea by Russian forces.
Forbidden
Almost every resident of Ukraine knows the name of the poet Vasily Stus, and his works are studied at school. The history of the literary creator is riddled with incredible tragedy, because this man was a fighter for rights and national culture. In spite of physical torture, in spite of the totalitarian system, in spite of death itself, his work breathed life, fought and gave rise to hope for the future in the hearts of people. This is what the Ukrainian tape “Forbidden” tells about.
11 children from Morshyn
The Ukrainian comedy is based on an old legend that the resort town was built on the spot where a meteorite fell. Not just a lump of stone from deep space, but a real treasure, because the meteorite consists of a valuable metal – osmium. Influential businesswoman Snezhana set herself the goal of finding a meteorite at all costs and extracting from it reserves of a rare fossil. For this purpose, a mercantile woman will not stop at any violation of the law.
“11 children from Morshyn” is the second full-length work of the Ukrainian director Arkady Nepytalyuk. Several well-known Ukrainian TV presenters and performers were also involved in the film.
The bare truth
Eight lifelong friends come to Odessa, where the grand opening of a new entertainment club of their mutual friend Andrey is planned. The establishment is represented by many rooms, where all kinds of educational and entertainment events will take place. In one of the rooms, the host placed a lie detector, which immediately attracted the attention of dear guests. The guys want to learn each other’s secrets as soon as possible. But they don’t even imagine the dangers of this game.
Wild field
In the center of the unfolding events is Herman Korolev, who leads a normal lifestyle until he learns about the disappearance of his older brother without a trace. He has to return to his hometown of Donetsk to protect the family business from the encroachments of local raiders. Although we are talking about an old gas station, it is very important for relatives to leave it under their control.
The dynamic and intriguing film by the Ukrainian director Yaroslav Lodygin received many positive reviews from the audience, and Vogue UA magazine included the film in the TOP-five best films of the time of independence.
Foxter and Max
Who did not dream in childhood that cartoon characters or hand-drawn characters could be brought to life? Using nano-paints, a boy named Max creates a dog and names it Foxter. However, this is not just a dog. She has a superpower that can be incredibly useful for saving the world.
The fantastic film “Foxter and Max” is ideal for family viewing. In addition to many devices, spy gadgets and talkative supermodern robots, in the film you can see favorite and familiar places of Kyiv, hear modern Ukrainian music, enjoy real action and a touching story of friendship between a boy and a dog.