Two Ukrainian Films Win at Sofia International Film Festival
Two films by Ukrainian artists won awards at the 29th Sofia International Film Festival. This was announced by the chairman of the board of the Union of Film Critics of Ukraine Oksana Voloshenyuk, Ukrinform reports.
‘The winners of the prestigious Sofia International Film Festival were the feature film Honeymoon and the documentary Dear Beautiful Beloved, in which the authors stay with the characters in the most difficult moments of their lives,’ Voloshenyuk said in a comment to Ukrinform.
The international jury awarded the Ukrainian film Honeymoon, directed by Zhanna Ozirna and produced by Dmytro Sukhanov, the Sofia City of Film Award for Best Film and the Grand Prix of the International Competition.
During the award ceremony, the jury emphasised: ‘The world is cruel and full of violence, wars are going on everywhere. We, the jury, have seen films that make us think about this chaos. But this is an exceptionally special film. Despite the reality, it revives a true belief in art and its metaphysical power, using what cannot be seen but can be heard as the driving force of the narrative.’
The award for Best Documentary went to the Austrian film Dear Beautiful Beloved, directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Yuriy Rechynsky.
According to the jury, this film is ‘a powerful and atmospheric testimony to what happens on the home front during the war - the evacuation of the elderly, the return of the bodies of the dead, the desire to escape reality. The camera and editing immerse us so deeply in the physical and moral trials that we empathise with the characters, remaining shocked and silent. It is a deeply emotional and moving look at humanity and suffering in wartime.’
Honeymoon also won the Youth Jury Prize at the Sofia International Film Festival.
‘Ukrainian cinema continues to comprehend and document the great war, causing the audience, as the jury members noted, a sense of shock. But not silence. That's why the Youth Jury Award is perhaps the most important and inspiring,’ emphasised Voloshenyuk.
The events of the film Honeymoon unfold on 23 February 2022. In the film Dear Beautiful Beloved, Yuriy Rechynsky tells about the evacuation of elderly people from eastern Ukraine, the transport of the bodies of fallen soldiers and their burial.
The festival featured 171 films from 58 countries, including five Ukrainian films.
The festival runs from 10 to 31 March in Sofia (Bulgaria) and is one of the most important film events in Eastern Europe.
As The Gaze reported, from 23 to 29 April, Ukrainian filmmakers will present five compelling films, two of which were supported by the Ukrainian State Film Agency. These works explore Ukraine's complex history, contemporary society, and rich cultural identity, reaffirming the country's role as a vital contributor to Central and Eastern European cinema.