FESTIVAL OPENING: Fragments of Ice by Maria Stoianova
Ukraine, Norway | 2024 | Documentary | 95’
with Q&A after the screenings
Maria Stoianova's father was a figure skater with the Soviet-Ukrainian “Ballet on Ice”. In 1986, he bought a camera and began documenting his tours in the West and his family life. The director weaves the nostalgic footage and commentary into a fascinating film essay about the nature of memory and the ability of images to capture it.
SCREENINGS
23.10., 19:00
Doors 18:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 1
Schönhauser Allee 123, 10437 Berlin
The Editorial Office by Roman Bondarchuk
Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic | 2023 | 126’
with Q&A after the screening
The young biologist Jura leads a quiet life until he discovers arson while searching for an extinct marmot and tries to uncover the truth. In the process, he gets caught up in an absurd network of media and politics. Roman Bondarchuk's second feature film is a satirical, bizarre mixture of sci-fi and social criticism that, despite all the absurdity, keeps the focus on humanity. Shot before the Russian invasion, the film pays homage to Bondarchuk's home region of Kherson.
SCREENINGS
24.10., 17:45
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Schönhauser Allee 123, 10437 Berlin
A Picture to Remember by Olga Chernykh
Ukraine | 2023 | Documentary | 72’
with Q&A after the screening
A Picture to Remember is an essayistic narrative about the war from the perspective of three generations of women. There are frequent video calls between Chernykh, her mother (a pathologist who works above a morgue where one feels surprisingly safe during the bombings) and her grandmother. Recordings of their conversations are intercut with photos and videos from the family archive and news reports, as well as images of microorganisms that Chernykh's mother observes under a microscope.
SCREENINGS
24.10., 19:00
Sputnik Kino
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
Stepne by Maryna Vroda
Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Slovakia | 2023 | 114' | Original Version with English subtitles
Locarno Best Director winner
with Q&A after the screening
Set amidst stunning Ukrainian winter landscapes and emerging feelings of alienation between people in a post-Soviet society, Stepne is the story of Anatoliy, a man who comes back home to take care of his dying mother. A meeting with his brother and a woman he loves makes him reflect on the choices he made along the way. And just before her death, the mother tells Anatoliy about a treasure…
Director’s note
As an artist, I was always interested in the topic of disappearance, departure and parting with something valuable. The silence of past generations about their history made me create this film – as a question of my country's Soviet past.
Maryna Vroda
SCREENINGS
25.10., 18:00 - Kino 2
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Schönhauser Allee 123, 10437 Berlin
Mission 200 by Volodymyr Sydko
Ukraine | 2023 | Documentary | 62’
The film tells the story of a Ukrainian woman who, during the Russian invasion, abandons her travel business and begins transporting the bodies of fallen soldiers. Like the mythological Charon, who ferries souls across the river Styx, she transports the bodies of the fallen.
SCREENINGS
26.10., 18:00
Sputnik Kino
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
Nice Ladies by Mariia Ponomarova: CLOSING CEREMONY AND AWARD CEREMONY (SHORT FILM COMPETITION)
Ukraine, Netherlands | 2024 | Documentary | 84’
with Q&A after the screening
The war in Ukraine threatens the unity of a cheerleading group of women over 50. While one member flees to the Netherlands, others remain in war-torn Kharkiv, struggling to maintain their bond despite the scars of war.
SCREENINGS
27.10., 19:00
Doors 18:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 1
Schönhauser Allee 123, 10437 Berlin