The 54th Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival has kicked off in the Ukrainian capital. A total of 158 films from 59 countries are being screened in the festival’s international, national, and alternative competitions, as well as in its non-competitive program.
The traditional Festival of Festivals program at the Molodist International Film Festival brings together the most outstanding films of the year—winners from Cannes, Locarno, Venice, Berlinale, SUNNY BUNNY, and Sundance. The repertoire of the “Festival of Festivals” includes, in particular, the winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s international feature film competition, “The Fruit of the Prickly Pear” (director Rohan Parashuram Kanavade, India), as well as works by Sho Miyake (Japan) “Journey and Everyday Life” (grand prize at Locarno) and Vytautas Katkus (Lithuania) “The Guest” (prize for directing at Karlovy Vary).
Fans of the classics of the “Romanian New Wave” Radu Jude will be able to see two of his new films at once – “Continental ’25” (Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlinale) and “Dracula” (world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival in August this year).
In addition, Molodist will host the world premiere of If We Never Meet Again by directors Noaz Deshe, Bo Willimon, and Peter Verzilov, who is fighting against Russian aggressors on the side of Ukraine as part of the Russian Volunteer Corps.
A selection of contemporary Ukrainian films will be presented in the competitive and non-competitive sections. The international competition (feature films) will feature the world premieres of two Ukrainian films: Our House on Fire by Olesia Biletska and The Tired by Yuriy Dunay. The national competition includes 17 short films. The non-competitive section “Special Events” will feature a screening of the film ‘Yasa’ by cult Ukrainian director Serhiy Masloboychikov. The program also includes a new film by Ukrainian animation director Mykyta Lyskov, “Kyiv Cake.”
The festival, which will run until November 2, will be held at the Zhovten cinema and the House of Cinema.
The history of the festival began in 1970 with a two-day screening of short films made by students of the cinematography department of the Kyiv State Institute. Soon, the festival transformed into a large review of films from all over the country, as well as from Georgia and Armenia. Since 1975, not only student works but also feature-length films have been admitted to the competition. In the 1990s, the festival became international. The Molodist Festival has the status of an international specialized event dedicated to debut films, according to the registration of the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). The general director of the festival is Andriy Khalpakchi.
Source: https://www.molodist.com/ua
