Short Film Competition

Jury 2026

01

Jury Member

Anna Onufriienko

Anna Onufriienko is a cultural studies researcher. From 2014 to 2022, she worked as a film critic and programmer at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Center (the Ukrainian film archive). She is a co-curator of exhibitions on Ukrainian cinema and art (VUFKU. Lost &Found, Ukrainian Film Posters of the 1920s-1930s) and co-director of the montage films project Atomopolis. Assembling Utopia (2016) and Intervision-Lviv (2018). She was also a program coordinator for several retrospective film programs. She co-edited the books Cinematographic Revision of Donbas (2015, 2018), VUFKU.Lost&Found (2019), as well as the DVD set Chornobyl [in]Visible (2017). Her research interests include Ukrainian contemporary and Soviet cinema, visual propaganda, the history of technologies and their representation in the media.

02

Jury Member

Olga Chernykh

Olga Chernykh is Ukrainian film director. She holds a Master Degree in Cinematography and in documentary filmmaking. Her film "A Picture to Remember", was an opening film of IDFA 2023 and among other awards won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary. She is a Berlinale Talents alumnus and was a participant of various international workshops such as IDFA Academy, IDFA Project Space, the “Aristoteles Workshop”, B2B Docs. She is a member of the European Film Academy and is a recipient of an Akademie der Künste fellowship (Germany). Her latest film "The Illusion of a Quiet Night" premiered at Visions du Reel 2026, where it got the Jury Special Mention.

03

Jury Member

Stas Zhyrkov

Stas Zhyrkov is a Ukrainian theatre director, curator, and actor. He co-founded the independent Open Mind Theater in Kyiv (2008–2013) and later served as Artistic Director of the Golden Gate Theater (2014–2019) and the Left Bank Theater (2019–2022), both in Kyiv. Since 2014 he has mentored a new generation of Ukrainian actors and directors. He has directed nearly 50 productions across Ukraine, Germany, Lithuania, Belarus, and Switzerland, with recent work staged at Schaubühne Berlin, Kammerspiele Munich, Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, and National Theatre Mannheim. He also curates international theatre festivals, including "777 Tage/днів" in Düsseldorf and Focus Ukraine at Piccolo Teatro Milano.

About the Competition

Short Film Competition

The UFFB Short Film Competition showcases the most exciting emerging voices in Ukrainian cinema. Each year an international jury selects from a curated programme of short films — fiction, documentary, and animation.

Awards

Best Ukrainian Short Film

€1,000, awarded by jury

TBA

Pluto Film Audience Design Consultancy Award

€1,500 consultation, sponsored by Pluto Film

Sponsored by Pluto Film
TBA
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