Here's an enjoyable and worthwhile way to support the people of the Ukraine. Ukrainian-New Zealand actress Elena Stejko (What We Do in the Shadows, The Gulf), and Ukrainian filmmaker Dasha Volga have launched a festival celebrating Ukrainian cinema, which will run over three weeks at The Vic Theatre in Auckland’s Devonport.
Over the three Sundays between May 29 and June 12, the iconic Vic Theatre in Auckland’s Devonport will host three special screenings of Ukrainian cinema: two feature films and a collection of contemporary shorts.
Stejko and her collaborator Dasha Volga, plan to add more festival dates around the country.
The 2022 Ukrainian Film Festival NZ line-up includes:
Bad Roads
A feature film consisting of four short stories set along the roads of Donbas, Ukraine during the war. Director: Natalya Vorozbhit.
The Inglorious Serfs
What if Taras Shevchenko put down his pen and took a samurai sword into his hands? Director: Roman Perfilyev.
A curated collection of four contemporary Ukrainian short films:
2 LINES/2 LIVES
How far is this creative couple willing to go to reach their goals? (18 mins). Director: Alyona Kaporina
SAD PORTRAITS
A love triangle between a cashier and two security guards of a small supermarket in a provincial town. (30 mins). Winner of the main prize at I-st Khmelnytskyi Film Festival (Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, 2021). Director: Vitalii Kikot
WATER
Nazar lives his small life in a big city, trying to flee from his haunting past. Will he ever overcome his shadows? Will he ever dare to love and make another person happy? (30 mins) Director: Dasha Volga
WE’LL NEVER GET LOST TOGETHER AGAIN
Sasha missed his flight and has to spend the whole day in the mysterious southern city, without cash, mobile phone, wi-fi and other benefits of civilisation, accompanied by young Sashka, an eccentric and beautiful girl. (35 mins). Director: Eugene Koshin.
$20 from every $30 ticket sold will go to these charities: The Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, Voices of Children, Ukrainian Women's Guard, Support for Ukrainian Filmmakers.