The 52nd Molodist International Film Festival Starts in Kyiv, Ukraine

The 52nd Molodist International Film Festival is taking place in Kyiv, Ukraine. The film forum will take place from 21 to 29 October and will feature nearly 150 outstanding films from around the world.

This information is reported on the official website of the "Molodist" film festival.

Alongside the traditional International and National Competitions, this year, the festival will feature a competition for children and teenage films called "Teen Screen" and a competition for debut full-length documentary films.

Additionally, critics and viewers will have the opportunity to explore the non-competition program. The "Scandinavian Panorama" section will be dedicated to films from the Nordic countries, FORMA will showcase experimental cinema, and the "Festival of Festivals" will traditionally present the best films - winners of world film festivals and events.

One of the highly anticipated events at the "Molodist" festival this year, among critics and enthusiasts, is the "truly noteworthy" national competition for Ukrainian full-length films.

For instance, the film "Before Curfew," which tells the story of a queer couple who met on a train and decided to spend a day together in Kyiv. We observe their story where "hearing explosions and sirens," these two share tenderness and their pain.

Another compelling short film, "Alive," describes the depths of the nightmare brought to Ukrainian land by the occupation terror of Russian soldiers in March 2022 near Kyiv. The film revolves around the story of how, one day, while carrying bags of dead Russian soldiers to the basement of a ruined building, Ukrainian soldiers notice that one of the "corpses" is still "alive."

In total, "Molodist" will screen 33 Ukrainian films on the big screen, both in competitions and in the non-competition program "Ukrainian Premieres."

For this year's competition of full-length films, 12 films were selected, including participants and laureates of the most prestigious film festivals worldwide.

The "Molodist" film festival was first held in Ukraine in 1970. Initially, it was a two-day showcase of short films made by students of the film department of one of Kyiv's institutes. By 1975, the festival began to screen full-length works by Ukrainian directors and eventually became international, earning the status of one of the most significant European film forums.

Today, the Kyiv International Film Festival "Molodist" is considered one of the largest film festivals in Eastern Europe, according to the International Federation of Film Producers' Association.

The official symbol of the festival is the Scythian deer, which is received by filmmakers as an award in key categories along with a cash prize.