| Location | Kyiv, Ukraine |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Festival date | April |
| Website | www |
Kyiv International Short Film Festival (KISFF) is an annual festival held in Kyiv and aimed at acquainting audiences with international short films. Latest movies, winners of international festivals, retrospectives of extraordinary figures and special attention to modern and classic Ukrainian movies all feature in the festival. KISFF also organizes projects and events to develop a diversity of short films in Ukraine. [1] [2]
The work on the Kyiv International Short Film Festival started in 2011 and it was held in spring 2012 for the first time. Since then, it takes place annually under any circumstances. The festival is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization, with its main aim being to promote short films. [5]
The festival's mission is an attempt to discover new forms and methods of film production in Ukraine and abroad, by developing national and international platforms for short films. The program also includes other screenings, classes, and meetings. [6]
The 2020 winner was a film Huntsville Station. Throughout the film the audience is able to explore the concept of freedom and how it feels to be released after years of imprisonment. Shot from a distance, the viewer is able to observe a group of inmates waiting for a bus after being released from a penitentiary, and how they react to finally being free. [7]
A special mention went to the film Stay awake, Be ready that takes the viewer on an exciting yet trivial night out in Vietnam. [7]
The film How to Disappear also received a special mention, shot from the perspective of a first-person shooter game. The film explored the theme of deserting whilst in a video game and was described by the jury as "humorous, surprisingly poetic and intelligent ode to deserters". [7]
The winner of the Ukrainian competition in 2020 went to The Carpet by Natasha Kyselova for her beautiful cinematography capturing a teenage boy's coming-of-age moments of burgeoning love and friendships tested, set against the increasingly tense back-drop of escalating war. [7]
A special mention was awarded to Metawork, created by Vasyl Lyah, "for the director's artistic vision and highly promising independent voice" His film depicted a young man tending to his garden, his creativity and care becoming a political act of survival and resistance in modern-day Ukraine. [7]
The festival jury is elected by administration of the festival. Usually there are several foreign guests and representatives of Ukrainian cinema. The jury members are prominent directors, producers and filmmakers that have received international awards. [8]
According to the regulations, films whose language is not Ukrainian, English or Russian must have English subtitles.
By submitting the film, the person is solely responsible for the film's observance of all necessary rights. [9]
The competition program consists of International and National programs.
The jury of the competition will present awards in three categories: Best Film, Best Director, Audience Award. In addition, the jury may award a ‘Jury Special Mention’.
| Category | Film | Director | Country | IMDb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix | Huntsville Station | Chris Filippone Jamie Meltzer |  United States | 7,6/10 [10] |
| Special Mention | Stay Awake, Be Ready | Thien An Pham |  Vietnam | 6,9/10 [11] |
| Special Mention | How to Disappear | Robin Klengel Leonhard Müllner Michael Stumpf |  Austria | 6,3/10 [12] |
| Category | Film | Director | IMDb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix | The Carpet [13] | Natalia Kyselova | No ratng available |
| Special Mention | Metawork [14] | Vasyl Lyah | No rating available |
| Audience award | Surrogate [15] | Stas Santimov | No rating available |
In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which escalated the Russo-Ukraine War, the Kyiv Short Film Festival requested that foreign cities screen Ukrainian short films to introduce European culture (especially Ukrainian culture) and raise funds for humanitarian assistance during the war. It also called on a cultural boycott of Russian films due to Russia's aggressive, imperialist activity. [16]
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on niche, B-rated and low budget movies in various genres, from horror to sci-fi. Regularly held in July/August, by 2016 its annual audience had already surpassed 100,000 viewers and outgrown even the Montreal World Film Festival.
Ukrainian cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of Ukraine and also by Ukrainian film makers abroad.
The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Dallas, Texas. The 2024 edition is scheduled for April 26-May 2, 2024.
The Odesa International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the middle of July in Odesa.
The First Odesa International Film Festival was held in Odesa (Ukraine) from 16 to 24 July 2010.
Alexander Yefymovych Rodnyansky is a Ukrainian film director, film producer, television executive and businessman. As a media-manager Rodnyansky founded the first Ukrainian independent television network 1+1 and ran Russian CTC Media, which under his management became the first Russian media company to publicly trade on NASDAQ.
Kyiv International Film Festival "Molodist", also known as the Molodist International Film Festival is an international film festival which takes place every October in Kyiv, Ukraine. It began in 1970 as a two-day festival of films, shot by students of Kyiv State Institute of Theatrical Arts, presenting 33 movies that year. In 2010, there were 439 films presented, making it the biggest film festival in Ukraine, with an audience of 127,000. The president of the festival is Andrii Khalpakhchi.
CinEast or Central and Eastern European Film Festival is an annual non-profit film festival held at various venues around Luxembourg in October.
LISFF Wiz-Art is an annual International Short Film Festival, which takes place in Lviv, Ukraine at the end of July. The festival was started by art formation Wiz-Art, which was founded in 2008. The festival shows more than 100 brand new short movies every year. Wiz-Art is a powerful cultural and educational platform that unites Ukrainian and foreign filmmakers and introduces them to the Ukrainian audience experienced professionals. The festival has also premiered films featured as part of the Brussels Short Film Festival, in addition to collaborating with other festival programs.
Rhino is a 2021 drama film written and directed by Oleg Sentsov, created as a co-production of Ukraine, Poland and Germany.
The Osaka Asian Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan in March. The festival began in 2005 and currently introduces Asian films.
The 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival was the 22nd such festival devoted to international cinema held in Shanghai, China.
The Earth Is Blue as an Orange is a 2020 documentary film, directed and written by Iryna Tsilyk, who won the Directing Award in the "World Cinema Documentary” category for the film at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
The 78th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 September 2021.
The history of Ukrainian animation, which began in the late 1920s, is part of Ukrainian cinematography and has involved a variety of techniques, including frame-by-frame filming, time lapse, and computer animation.
The DocuDays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival is the only human rights film festival in Ukraine. The festival is held annually at Kyiv in March and admission is free to the general public. Each year, the festival has a different theme, and while not all movies shown adhere to that year's theme, all presented films are documentaries that focus on the subject of human rights.
Kateryna Gornostai is a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and film editor. She is a jury member of the film festival Wiz-Art since 2014 and a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy since 2017.
Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk is a Ukrainian author, film director and writer.
A Rising Fury is a 2022 Ukrainian documentary film directed by Lesya Kalynska and Ruslan Batytsky. It is one of the five Ukrainian entries at the 2024 Academy Awards.