This year, the National Competition of the 13th Odessa International Film Festival, given the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, was held within the framework of the Warsaw International Film Festival. The program Odessa-Warsaw: Ukrainian competition included 11 feature films and 7 short films.
The winners of the competition were determined by an expert jury, which included producer and director Dariusz Jablonsky (Poland), screenwriter and producer Ilona Lepkovskaya (Poland) and producer Ivanna Dyadyura (Ukraine).
By the decision of the jury in the OIFF competition, the Best Ukrainian Feature Film and the Best Documentary Film were awarded.
The best Ukrainian film was the debut of Maxim Nakonechny “Vision of a Butterfly”.
I am proud of Maxim (Nakonechny) and the team. I would like to note that me, Max, and our entire team have many friends who are now defending Ukraine exactly as soldiers, fighting for their lives as paramedics, some of our friends, whom we know personally, are in captivity. Therefore, it is very important to talk about them, to do everything so that their stories are known and seen. And that’s why our film is very important, and I’m happy that it won the award. Thanks to the Odessa Film Festival, thanks to Warsaw,” shared the co-author of the script for the winning film Irina Tselik.
The Best Documentary was the film Therikony by Taras Tomenko.
The jury of the National Competition of the Odessa International Film Festival in Warsaw saw eleven feature and seven short films. Short films are always the territory of experiment and a young bold spirit. We appreciate the work of all the filmmakers who entered the competition with their stories, but at the same time we were faced with a deep desire to support a film about a young and promising generation. We hope that short film directors will support us in this non-standard decision. After much deliberation, the jury proposed to award the second award to a documentary that provides an important context for the tragic situation in which Ukrainian society finds itself. At the request of the jury, the proposal was accepted by the director of the festival,” comments the jury.
“Before February, we had many plans and dreams. But now we all have only one dream – peace in our country. Our artists protect Ukraine from Russian soldiers instead of making films. But Ukrainian cinema is alive and powerful – it is our culture and the voices of our people. This year we have a very strong program of the National Competition and I am glad to have the opportunity to hold it here in Warsaw, where many Ukrainian film artists have found refuge and the support of the Polish people. Thanks to the Warsaw Film Festival for being here now, it was not easy, but we succeeded. Thanks to the jury for your hard work. Thanks to Dariusz Jablonski and all Polish filmmakers for your strong support! Dziękuję bardzo! Glory to Ukraine!”, said Anna Machukh, general director of the Odessa International Film Festival, at the awards ceremony.
