UKRAINIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF ART OF CINEMATOGRAPHY KINOKO PRESENTS

We are pleased to announce this year’s collaboration with the Ukrainian Film Festival KINOKO, aiming to bring viewers a unique perspective from Ukrainian filmmakers on a reality marked by the pandemic and war. As part of this partnership, four films will be presented, showcasing a wide spectrum of emotions and forms of expression – from experimental artistic approaches and subtle coming-of-age stories to powerful depictions of life in the shadow of conflict.

KINOKO is the first Ukrainian film festival dedicated to the art of cinematography. It was founded in 2018 as an annual student film festival, bringing together young cinematographers from different regions of Ukraine for a two-day screening of student works from various film schools. For 4 years, KINOKO has been growing dynamically to become a prominent platform for creative exchange of ideas and experiences between young cinematographers and professionals. In 2021, the festival included competitional screenings of short and feature films, an exhibition of current film technologies from Ukrainian rental houses (Patriot, Filmotechnic, etc.), and a series of educational and promotional events, including masterclasses from industry-leading figures.

This year, our program presents four distinct films that reflect the challenging period faced by the Ukrainian film industry, beginning with COVID-19 and followed abruptly by the full-scale Russian invasion. This selection showcases a variety of artistic approaches: taking bold, unconventional steps to reveal the central ideas in La Palisiada and Iron Butterflies; using a simple yet beautiful method to unveil the delicate world of the protagonist in Stop-Zemlia; and offering harrowing yet essential close-up observations of war in Dear, Beautiful, Beloved. The program exemplifies the author's deep and sensitive reflection, demonstrating how art helps us capture and process moments of crisis, ultimately finding new ways to move carry on.

KINOKO Film Festival organizers

DEAR BEAUTIFUL BELOVED

Russian war in Ukraine turns houses into dust and the dead into numbers. In the midst of the ongoing invasion, new structures of care are emerging to protect those who're alive and recover those who aren't. Unvarnished and unforgiving, Dear Beautiful Beloved documents this relentless work, which must never become a normality.

Director: Juri Rechinsky
Cinematographers: Serafin Spitzer, Serhiy Stetsenko
Production: Horse & Fruits
Country and year: Austria, 2024

IRON BUTTERFLIES

In summer 2014, sunflower fields and coal mines in eastern Ukraine turn into a 12 square kilometers crime scene. A multi-layered investigation into the downing of flight MH17, in which a butterfly-shaped shrapnel found in the pilot's body implicated the state responsible for a war crime that remains unpunished.

Director: Roman Liubyi
Cinematographer: Andrii Kotliar
Production: Babylon'13, Trima Film
Country and year: Ukraine, Germany, 2023

LA PALISIADA

Ukraine, 1996. Five months before the moratorium on capital punishment, two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, investigate a murder of their colleague. Long time ago, both of them were in love with the widow of the deceased. Immersed in the complicated case and long forgotten memories, they create a future where their children have to live, inheriting unrealized aspirations of their parents.

Original title: Ля Палісіада
Director: Philip Sotnychenko
Cinematographer: Volodymyr Usyk
Production: Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema, VIATEL
Country and year: Ukraine, 2023

STOP-ZEMLIA

The introverted high-school girl Masha sees herself as an outsider, until she hangs around with Yana and Senia who share her non-conformist status. While she is trying to navigate through an intense time of the pre-graduation year, Masha falls in love in a way that forces her out of her confort zone. From a debutant Ukrainian director Kateryna Gornostai, a deeply personal story about self-discovery and the patience it requires.

Director: Kateryna Gornostai
Cinematographer: Oleksandr Roshchyn
Production: ESSE Production House
Country and year: Ukraine, 2021