Two Ukrainian films win awards at Warsaw International Film Festival

This was reported by the Ukrainian State Film Agency.

The 40th Warsaw International Film Festival (WFF) took place in Poland from October 11 to 20. A total of 139 films were shown, including 84 feature-length and 55 short films, from various countries. Six films by Ukrainian directors were featured at the event.

Two of them took home special awards.

The feature film Bucha, directed by Stanislav Tiunov, secured second place in the audience vote out of 57 feature films.

The drama is based on real events in Bucha, Vorzel, and Hostomel in the Kyiv region during the Russian occupation in early 2022. It tells the story of a Kazakh citizen who had taken refuge in Ukraine and lived in Bucha. When the Russian invasion began, his Kazakh passport allowed him to enter the occupied territory and help evacuate civilians.

Polish actor Cezary Łukaszewicz and Ukrainian actor Vyacheslav Dovzhenko star in Bucha. The film was directed by Stanislav Tiunov, with a script written and produced by Oleksandr Shchur.

Bucha will premiere in Ukrainian cinemas on November 7.

Third place in the audience vote went to the documentary A Sentimental Journey to the Parajanov Planet, directed by Taras Tomenko.

This documentary celebrates the legendary filmmaker and artist Serhii Parajanov on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The film combines rare archival footage with surreal puppet sequences that blur the line between reality and imagination. It explores Parajanov’s eccentricity and his defiance of Soviet censorship, along with the history of his family.

First place in the audience vote was awarded to the Polish film Where Do We Begin by Monika Majorek.