Thanks to the collaboration between Ukrainian and Polish festival teams, the EnergaCAMERIMAGE program will feature four full-length Ukrainian films. This will allow the international audience to get a deeper look at contemporary Ukrainian cinema. Other planned events are seminars with Ukrainian filmmakers, during which they will discuss topical issues of film industry development in Ukraine and the world in times of global challenges and share their vital experience.
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.
Anastasia Tykha, the program director of the KINOKO film festival.
LA PALISIADA
cinematographer Volodymyr Usyk,
director Philip Sotnychenko
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.
DEAR BEAUTIFUL BELOVED
cinematographers Serhii Stetsenko, Serafin Spitzer,
director Yuri Rechinsky
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.
STOP-ZEMLIA
cinematographer Oleksandr Roschyn,
director Kateryna Gornostay
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.
IRON BUTTERFLIES
cinematographer Andrii Kotliar,
director Roman Lyubiy
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.
During the festival, KINOKO will present two seminars, which will be moderated by the program director of the ukrainian festival Anastasia Tykha:
- How to endure global challenges and still make films: Ukraine's case in point with cinematographers Yevheniia Bondarenko, Serhiy Stetsenko and Volodymyr Usyk.
- A seminar by cinematographer Mykyta Kuzmenko on working with music videos.
In addition, the KINOKO team is creating a unique opportunity for Ukrainian youth and will form a delegation of film students from Ukrainian universities. For young talents, this will be a unique opportunity to learn from leading Polish and international film industry professionals, which will contribute to their professional growth and open up new perspectives in the development of cinematic skills. The students' trip is made possible thanks to the support of the Ukrainian company Filmotechnic, a leader in the film industry equipment market in Ukraine.
KINOKO is a Ukrainian film festival dedicated to the art of cinematography. Founded in 2018, the festival provides a platform for young and experienced filmmars who want to showcase their work to a wide audience. KINOKO also includes master classes, lectures and discussions aimed at developing new talents in the field of cinema.
Anastasia Tykha is a Ukrainian filmmaker, member of the Babylon’13 film collective, and program director of the KINOKO Film Festival.