Ukrainian Film Festival in Edmonton - 2023
March 31st - April 2nd 2023
From March 31st-April 2nd, 2023, the Contemporary Ukraine Studies Program at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian studies, - in partnership with the Alberta Society for the Advancement of Ukrainian Studies, Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre at MacEwan University, and the Alberta Local and International Education Association—co-organized the inaugural Ukrainian Film Festival in Edmonton, which presented a selection of contemporary Ukrainian films that have been acclaimed by world critics and won various international awards. Over the course of three days, over 650 festival-goers had the opportunity to watch the brightest representatives of Ukrainian cinema in recent years and view what the world of contemporary Ukrainian cinema has to offer. The UFFE president was Oleksandr Pankieiev. See the film selection below.
The Earth is Blue as an Orange (2020)
Film by Iryna Tsilyk
Hanna, a single mother, and her four kids reside in Ukraine’s Donbas frontline conflict area. The family is able to maintain their home as a haven, full of life and light despite the bombings and chaos that surround them on the outside. The best way for the family to remain human is to turn traumatic experiences into works of art.
Stop-Zemlia (2021)
Film by Kateryna Gornostai
A bold, sincere, and compassionate look into the uneasy sense of being young and an intimate view of Ukrainian youth is provided through the experience of navigating the emotional turbulence of waiting for life to begin while hanging out with classmates.
Ya i Felix (2020)
Film by Iryna Tsilyk
A tale about the fractured adult-child relationships caused by the unstable 1990s in Ukraine. Tymophii, a young boy, makes friends with Felix, a strange man who is a PTSD sufferer and an Afghan War veteran who adores music.
Klondike (2022)
Film by Maryna Er Gorbach
The story of a Ukrainian family that was living on the Russian-Ukrainian border when the war broke out. Even as Russian military forces capture the village, Irka won't leave her house. On 17 July 2014, they are suddenly thrust into the centre of a global aviation disaster.
My Thoughts Are Silent (2019)
A film by Antonio Lukich
Vadim is twenty-two. He's a sound engineer and a downer. He's going to Canada in three months. Forever. Before the departure he's assigned to record the voice of a very rare bird, which dwells only in the Transcarpathian mountains of Ukraine.
Pamfir (2022)
Film by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
Pamfir returns to his family after months of absence, wanting to be a decent family man. But then, in a misguided attempt to keep his father from leaving again, his teenage son accidentally burns down the local church while destroying his father’s return papers, not knowing it is owned by the mob, Pamfir is forced to give up his honest living to help his family, which sets him down a risky path with irreversible consequences.
Back to Home (2025)