Ukrainian Movie Wins Top Award at Strasbourg Film Festival
On 28 September, the Ukrainian film 'U Are the Universe', directed by Pavlo Ostrikov, won several awards at the Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg (European Fantastic Film Festival in Strasbourg).
This was reported by the Ukrainian State Film Agency.
‘The film received the festival's main award, the Golden Octopus, as well as the Silver Melies award, which paves the way for the competition for the most prestigious European genre film award, the Golden Melies!
We congratulate the creative team on their victory and wish them new achievements!’ the statement reads.
The feature film 'U Are the Universe' is the debut of director and screenwriter Pavlo Ostrikov. The artist has previously created a number of short films, including Golden Love, Graduation'97, and Mia Donna.
Work on the film began in 2015. In total, its creation lasted seven years and was completed in 2023.
Five residential modules and parts of the spaceship's exterior were specially built for the filming. The team also developed an animatronic robot that moved independently in the frame.
The film took about two months to assemble the sets alone.
‘This film was created against all odds: from the scale of the idea to the challenges of today. It seemed absolutely unrealistic to create a real Ukrainian Sci-Fi with a small budget.
All the production labs told me that. But we persevered and created the impossible,’ said Volodymyr Yatsenko, the film's producer and a soldier.
The film tells the story of Ukrainian trucker Andriy Melnyk, played by actor and serviceman of the Armed Forces Volodymyr Kravchuk.
After the Earth explodes, the film's protagonist seems to be the only person left in the universe. Later it turns out that this is not the case, as Andriy manages to establish a connection with a French woman, Catherine.
‘At the heart of this story is loneliness and our desire to find someone who might need us. Even if it means crossing the entire galaxy. These are the eternal themes that will always be relevant, especially in dark times,’ said the film's creators.
The world premiere of the film took place on 7 September at the Toronto International Film Festival.
'U Are the Universe' has won a number of other awards, including the First Cut Lab Award in the Ukrainian Films Now programme at the Marché du Film film market in Cannes.
In addition, the film's creators were awarded a grant from the Ukrainian Film Academy in partnership with Netflix and the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Cinema (ESFUF).
The film will be released in Ukraine in spring 2025.
Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg is the main French platform for fantasy cinema and one of the largest genre events in Europe, founded in 2008.
The annual festival focuses on new science fiction films. At the same time, it has separate sections for thrillers, noir films and black comedies, as well as for video games and virtual reality cinema.