Cannes Film Festival to Open with Special “Ukraine Day” Spotlighting War Documentaries
The 78th Cannes Film Festival, which opens on May 13, 2025, will begin with a powerful tribute to Ukraine. For the first time, the event will host a special “Ukraine Day,” placing the war-torn country at the center of the global cinematic stage. The initiative will unfold at the Palais des Festivals, where audiences will witness a dedicated screening of three documentaries capturing the brutal realities of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Ukrinform.
Organized by the Embassy of Ukraine in France in cooperation with the City of Cannes, France Télévisions, and Brut, “Ukraine Day” is more than a cultural gesture. It represents a deliberate effort to spotlight Ukraine’s struggle through artistic truth and cinematic excellence. Ukrainian officials highlighted the importance of presenting these films at the main venue of the festival – a sign of the highest level of artistic solidarity from the French and international film community.
The program features three films: “Zelenskyy”, directed by Yves Jeuland, Liza Vapné, and Ariane Chemin, offers a portrait of Ukraine’s wartime president; “2000 Meters to Andriivka” by Mstyslav Chernov, brings a visceral account from the front lines; and “Notre Guerre” (“Our War”) by Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussel, filmed from February to April 2025 in the Pokrovsk and Sumy regions, documents not only battlefield action but also the civilian experience under constant shelling. One particularly striking moment in the latter film shows Ukrainian soldiers in a bunker watching a conversation between President Zelenskyy and Donald Trump.
French organizers described the event as a necessary act of remembrance and responsibility. They emphasized that the Russian-Ukrainian is not just a Ukrainian tragedy, but a defining chapter for Europe and the world. It is a war “in the heart of Europe,” they noted, and cinema has a role in telling its story.
Cannes has maintained a consistent stance in support of Ukraine. In 2022, President Zelenskyy addressed the festival’s opening ceremony via video from Kyiv.
As The Gaze reported earlier, two Ukrainian films – “Cuba&Alaska” by Yehor Troyanovskyi and “Shards of Light” by Mila Teshaieva and Marcus Lenz, will compete in the International Competition of the Sheffield DocFest 2025, the UK’s largest documentary film festival.