Drama Archives | Filmmakers for Ukraine

Las Meninas (2008)

Director, Writer, Producer: Ihor Podolchak. Co-director for musical part: Dean Karr. Executive Producer: Ihor Ihnatenko. Associated Producer: Tamara Podolchak. Creative Producer: Ihor Dyurych. Co-producer: Liliya Mlynarych. Cinematographer: Serhiy Mykhalchuk. Music : Oleksandr Shchetynsky. Art Director: Svitlana Makarenko. Main Cast: Mykola Veresen, Lyubov Tymoshevska, Hanna Yarovenko, Dmytro Chernyavsky, Ilona Arsentyeva, Stas Arsentyev, Viktoriya Ulyanchenko, Valeriya Ulyanchenko. Length: 99 min

This film is about what the routine of everyday life can do to the human mind and psyche. It also reflects on the importance of the choices we make and how limited these choices are in the first place.

Delirium (2013)

Director, Producer and Screenwriter: Ihor Podolchak. Main Cast: Volodymyr Khimyak, Lesya Voynevych, Petro Rybka, Olha Horbach, Olha Bakus, Ivan Kostenko, Vasyl Kostenko. Language: Ukrainian. English Subtitles. Length: 96 min

A family asks a young psychiatrist to be their guest for a while and help look after their father who’s developed a suicidal fixation for ropes and knots among other things. It is also entirely possible that the mental healthof the guest that is the real cause for concern.

Atlantis (2019)

Original Title: Атлантида Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych. Writer: Valentyn Vasyanovych. Cast: Andriy Rymaruk, Liudmyla Bileka, Vasyl Antoniak. Producer: Iya Myslytska, Valentyn Vasyanovych, Vladimir Yatsenko. Cinematographer: Valentyn Vasyanovych. Genre: Drama, War. Country: Ukraine. Language: Ukrainian, English Subtitles. Length: 108 min

Eastern Ukraine, in the nearest future. A desert unsuitable for human habitation. Sergiy, a former soldier suffering from PTSD, is having trouble adapting to his new reality: a life in pieces, a land in ruins. When the smelter he works at finally shuts down, he finds an unexpected way to cope joining the volunteer Black Tulip mission dedicated to exhuming war corpses. By working alongside Katya, he understands that a better future is possible. Will he learn to live without war and accept himself as he is?

MAM (2021)

Director: Ganna Gnatenko-Shabaldina. Writer: Ganna Gnatenko-Shabaldina. Starring: Alina Kostyukova, Andriy Isaenko. Producer: Igor Savychenko. Genre: Short, Drama. Country: Ukraine. Language: Ukrainian, English Subtitles. Length: 16 min

Vira, the mother of two children, is about to have an emotional breakdown. The so-called careless life with constant bustling around kindergarten and supermarkets is absolutely exhausting. The difficult psychological condition is exacerbated by the chronic absence of a man at home. The daily routine and lack of support become so unbearable that Vira is ready to strangle her own child. Strained to the limit of her resources, Vira stops and tries to find a way out of a difficult life situation.

The Nails (2018)

Original Title: Mıqlar. Director: Ernes Sarykhalil. Writer: Ernes Sarykhalil. Producer: Tamila Tasheva. Starring: Dzhemil Emirsaliiev, Serhii Lihtey, Rustem Emirsaliiev. Genre: Short, Drama. Country: Ukraine. Language: Without. Length: 16 min

On a native home ashes a small boy collects old nails. Having gathered the nails, he goes to his father. On his way, he meets an unfriendly local man. Now the boy has to overcome the hate of the adult to bring nails for the work started by his father.

Falling (2017)

Original title: Strimholov. Director: Marina Stepanska. Writer: Marina Stepanska. Producer: Olena Yershova, Volodymyr Filippov, Alla Ovsiannikova. Starring: Andriy Seletsky, Dasha Plahtiy, Oleg Mosiychuk. Genre: Feature, Drama. Country: Ukraine. Language: Russian and Ukrainian, English, French, Bulgarian, Italian, and Romanian subtitles. Length: 96 min

Anton, a former enfant prodige composer who couldn’t handle his obsession with music, returns to Ukraine after a long period in rehab for drugs and alcohol. Katia, an ordinary girl living on the outskirts of Kyiv, is planning to move to Berlin with her boyfriend, a German photographer. Two bewildered lost young people who meet at a crucial point in their lives for a few days of happiness together in a shattered society in search of a new national identity.

Not Now (2020)

Original Titel: Не Зараз. Director: Andrew Liulko. Writer: Andrew Liulko. Genre: Drama, Short Film. Country: Ukraine. Language: Ukrainian, English subtitles. Length: 15 min

A young man is refusing to believe that he has cancer and is procrastinating till the very last moment to tell his girlfriend about the scary but obvious symptoms. Once he realizes that he has very little time left, he turns his hesitation into his strength – proposes to marry his girlfriend, spends more time with dad dying of cancer and agrees to get the surgery! Now it’s up to doctors’ whether the love or cancer wins.