Ukraine will be welcomed as its Guest of Honour by the fifth FIPADOC (20 – 28 January). The invitation comes with a selection of films presented out of competition and a professional invitation to join the festival’s co-production forum. The films shown will offer a selection for understanding the impact of the current war through both a historical and current context.
The film included in the Visions of Ukraine programme included shorts like Children of the Border (dir. Janne Vasarainen) and Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles (dir. Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk). It will also feature several mid and feature-length films, including Mariupolis 2 (dir. Mantas Kvedaravicius), Ukrainian Sherriffs (dir. Roman Bondarchuk), When Spring Came to Bucha (dir. Mila Teshaieva, Marcus Lenz), Pushing Boundaries (dir. Lesia Kordonets), Three Women (dir. Maksym Melnyk), Seeds of Hunger – Ukraine 1933 (Guillaume Ribot), and Tales of a Toy Horse (dir. Ulyana Osovska, Denis Strashnyi).
In addition to the films, on Wednesday, 25 January, Ukrainian filmmakers attending FIPADOC will join in a panel discussion sharing updates on the country’s documentary community. Participatints include DocuDays UA’s Viktoria Leshchenko, Directors Olga Gibelinda, Roman Blazhan, and Andrii Lysetskyi, and Producers Ivanna Khitsinska and Olha Beskhmelnytsina.