The OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival (IEFF), which will take place in Ukraine from September 8 to 15, 2024, and in Bulgaria from November 8 to 15, 2024, announces the list of films and program sections that will be presented at the 5th-anniversary edition in Bolhrad (Ukraine).
This year, the festival team has prepared more than 100 films from 61 countries for the audience. In particular, we will show 88 films in four competition sections: NASHE OKO Feature Film Competition, NASHE OKO Short Film Competition, OKO GLOBAL Feature Film Competition and OKO GLOBAL Short Film Competition. In addition, the program department formed two non-competition programs OKO FOCUS and OKO HITS, and selected some films from the previous editions for the OKO RETROSPECTIVE program. Also during the Film Festival week, a number of special screenings will take place in the OKO SPECIAL section.
The opening film of the 5th edition of OKO in Bolhrad will be “A Poem for Little People” by Ivan Sautkin. The film was first screened last year at the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, after which it was presented at foreign festivals, including the Danish CPH:DOX. Now, “A Poem for Little People” will be screened again in Ukraine, and later it will have its premiere in Bulgaria. The film is a verité look at the most vulnerable caught up in the front lines of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the volunteers of an evacuation team, putting their lives on the line to save them. For them, there are no “little people”. The film will also compete in the NASHE OKO Feature Film Competition.
The closing film will be the Israeli feature film “Seven Blessings / Sheva Brachot” by Ayelet Menahemi. This film became a real national sensation in 2023, when it won 11 Ophir Awards, including Best Picture, at the Israeli Film Academy Awards ceremony. The film was also Israel's official submission to the international section for the Oscars-2024. “Seven Blessings / Sheva Brachot” is a tragicomedy about a week of festive family dinners after an Israeli-Moroccan wedding. Of course, the characters' agenda includes not only joy, but also family grievances, explanations and reflection on traumas — a whole bouquet that reveals the clash of cultures and generations. The film will be premiered in Ukraine and Bulgaria, and will also take part in the OKO GLOBAL International Feature Film Competition.
This year, the organizers of the OKO IEFF decided to experiment. In addition to traditional documentaries, which have always been the basis of our program sections, we made a decision to accept fiction and animated films for the competition and not to segregate them by genre or any other criteria.The main condition is ethnographic elements and the so-called "post-ethnography". Despite the genre mix of the selected films and a slight rebranding of the sectional slot titles our love for cinema and desire to share it with the audience remain unchanged.
The OKO FOCUS program is a cinematic representation of the visual and thematic style of the 5th edition, in which we combined such a genre of visual and literary art as comics and outstanding Ukrainian-Bulgarian figures — Taras Shevchenko and Hristo Botev.
The OKO HITS section will feature the Ukrainian premiere of a film that has made a splash around the world, won at Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar. This is “Four Daughters / Les filles d'Olfa” by Kaouther Ben Hania, which combines real time and reconstruction documentary with actors play. In this section, the festival will also present popular Bulgarian films of recent years, which have also participated in well-known international film festivals.
In the OKO RETROSPECTIVE section, we will show the film-works of Ukrainian director Taras Tomenko, who will receive this year's honorary festival award for his contribution to the development of cinema. In addition, we will show selected films from previous OKO editions.
The OKO SPECIAL program will feature films created by members of the festival team — OKO director Tetiana Staneva and OKO programmer Serhii Zeinalov. In addition, the audience will see a selection of films from Suspilne and the Ukrainian premiere of the Ukrainian-Danish film almanac about the consequences of a full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine.
In total, the Film Festival is going to screen more than 100 films in the Ukrainian part of the events in a mixed format, both in-person in Bolhrad and online on the MEGOGO platform from September 8 to 15.
Festival activities
The official opening ceremony of the 5th edition of the OKO IEFF will take place on September 8, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. in the building of the Culture and Leisure Center of the Bolhrad City Council. The star guests at the gala concert will be the members of the ethno-electronic project "GG GulayGorod" and the folk trio "Pra". During the film festival week, folk song and dance master classes will be held, a children's location from the Pravytsia folk studio will be open, as well as a fair with souvenirs and festival merch.
However, OKO is not only about cinema and entertainment. We are going to have two discussion panels: "Cultural heritage of national minorities - a valuable resource for cultural diplomacy" and "National builders/leaders and history. What do Ukraine and Bulgaria have in common?". The program also includes an inspiring seminar "Why it is important to return to your roots in turbulent times" with Sofiia Bezverkha (@krapka.krapka) - a cultural blogger, philologist and ambassador of all Ukrainian things.
Director, honorary president, program director and programmer about OKO 2024
Tetiana Staneva, director of the OKO IEFF and filmmaker:
Now OKO has two homes - Ukraine (Bolhrad) and Bulgaria (Sofia). As a Ukrainian Bulgarian, I am very happy to introduce these two cultures to each other, to tell our guests about the manners and customs, the pains and hopes of these two peoples who are dear to me and close in spirit, to show them to each other and to the whole world. Officially, we are a Ukrainian-Bulgarian festival, so we focus on Ukrainian cinema in Bulgaria and Bulgarian cinema in Ukraine, on what unites us and what distinguishes us.
We have a war in our Ukraine, the russian propaganda is very powerful in our Bulgaria. With our program, we bandage their wounds, and with cultural weapons we fight for the minds of our peoples. The selected films are not only about our current pain, but also about rethinking our painful history and healing our ancient traumas. In these films, everyone will recognize themselves and think about their identity. I am sure that the combined experience of peoples from all over the world can give answers to painful questions. Our fifth anniversary edition will pave the way for empathy and mutual understanding, and create the intercultural dialogue we need today. We promise you catharsis, therapy, and healing through the preserved memory and experience of humanity.
Yurii Dimchoglo, honorary president of the OKO IEFF:
As long as tanks are rumbling, the muse must shout louder than they do. That is why we are not just fighting for the film festival to continue to exist and 'speak', but also expanding our audience to two countries - Ukraine and Bulgaria. This way, the voice of OKO will be stronger and more powerful. “By learning from others”, we learn more about ourselves. So, once again, the festival is about us: about home, about lineage, family, identity, roots, history and our common present with reflections on the future of humanity. I would like to invite you to the 5th edition of the Film Festival in order to talk!
Denis Budanov, program director of the OKO IEFF:
First of all, I would like to thank the festival management and the team for the offer to head the program department this year and to bring my vision and some reforms to the program policy and film selection.
There is an unspoken rule that a film festival acquires its first hierarchical status when it gets the prefix “festival with a five-year history of holding”. Of course, this is a “child” that will still grow, but it already has a formed worldview and is eager to experiment and find its own voice. Therefore, I hope that this year's program will not only bring cinematic diversity, but will also provide further grounds for reflection and important discussions on the part of the audience.
As a program director, I tried to combine a wide range of meanings and genres and find interesting solutions to create an exciting film program. Therefore, you will see works by famous directors and members of creative teams, attempts by those who are just starting their path in cinema, and films that for some reason remained off the media radar. Speaking about the competition sections, I tried to select competitive films that would harmoniously fit into the program.
Serhii Zeinalov, programmer of the OKO IEFF and filmmaker:
I am glad to join the team of creative and ambitious colleagues of the Film Festival. While working on this year's program, we focused on a careful selection of films that reflect the contemporary search for self-identification. Taking into account all the nuances, themes and genres, we sought to create a program that would not only engage the audience, but also offer them new perspectives and space for deep reflection. My experience as a filmmaker was very useful in the process of creating the festival's screening schedule, helping me to shape it in such a way that each film organically complements the others, forming a holistic and harmonious cinematic experience. I am happy that OKO will give a large audience in Ukraine and Bulgaria the opportunity to get acquainted with our findings. I am looking forward to seeing you at the Film Festival!
We would like to remind you that the films included in the competition, non-competition, retrospective and special screenings will be available for watching at in-person screenings from September 8 to 15 in Bolhrad (Ukraine) and from November 8 to 15 in Sofia (Bulgaria). Ukrainian and Bulgarian audience will be able to watch some films as part of online screenings on the platforms of our partners — MEGOGO (in September in Ukraine) and Neterra.TV (in November in Bulgaria) during the mentioned Film Festival days. In addition, the winner of the audience award will be selected based on the results of all screenings.
The full lineup of the Ukrainian edition 2024
1. Axe / Bartka / Бартка, dir. Volodymyr Bakum | 2022, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
2. Breathing / Дихання, dir. Viktor Petrenko, Maria Pankova | 2022, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
3. Cupressus/ Кипарис, dir. Mykola Nosok | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
4. Dear Odesa / Одеса уві сні, dir. Kyrylo Naumko | 2022, Italy, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
5. Demiurge / Деміург, dir. Olga Semak | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
6. Kilometre / Кілометр, dir. Hanna Tykha | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
7. The Light Slipping Through / Проникаюче світло, dir. Volodymyr Kliuiev | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
8. A Poem for Little People / Поема для маленьких людей, dir. Ivan Sautkin | 2023, Ukraine, Lithuania, Great Britain — Non-Fiction
9. Rule of Two Walls / Правило двох стін, dir. David Gutnik | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
10. War Tails, dir. Olha Byrledianu | 2024, Canada, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
1. And that’s for this Christmas / И това е за тази Коледа, dir. Peter Vulchev | 2024, Bulgaria — Fiction
2. Ballad of Ferris the Self-appointed Knight and Smokie the Fire Breathing Dragon / Балада за самозвания рицар Желязко и огнедишащия дракон Димчо, dir.Penko Gelev | 2024, Bulgaria — Animated
3. Blackthorn Blossom / Fleurs d'épine, dir. Olga Stuga | 2023, France, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
4. COMMA, dir. Sonia Leliukh | 2023, Germany, Ukraine — Animated
5. Damore - About Love / Даморе - за любовта, dir. Nicola Zambelli | 2023, Bulgaria — Fiction
6. ! (Exclamation Mark), dir. Orest Smilianets | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
7. Giorgos Gounaropoulos from Sozopol / Йоргос Гунаропулос от Созопол, dir. Elisaveta Stantcheva | 2023, Bulgaria — Non-Fiction
8. Heart Hug / Обіруч, dir. Rimma Gefen, Nika Zhukova | 2023, Israel — Animated
9. Hut / Хатка, dir. Kate Tiuri | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
10. Kalyna Malyna, dir. Pauline Zapolska | 2023, Ukrane, Latvia — Animated
11. Mokosh / Мокош, dir. Anna Dudko | 2023, Ukraine — Animated
12. Mother / Мама, dir. Mariia Felenko | 2023. Ukraine — Fiction
13. My Dad is a Lightning Researcher / Мій тато — дослідник блискавок, dir. Iryna Shostak | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
14. Security Council Presidency / Головування в Раді Безпеки, dir. Kyrylo Naumko | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
15. The Soldier / Солдатик, dir. Danyl Dedkov | 2023. Ukraine — Fiction
16. Spirit, dir. Mariia Khomutina | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
17. La Terreur, dir. Mykhal Talkovskyi | 2024, Ukraine — Fiction
18. Trace / Следа, dir. Asparuh Petrov | 2022, Bulgaria — Animated
19. Tutti, dir. Alla Savytska | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
20. WAR 24, dir. Tetіana Peresunko, Dmytro Shyshko | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
21. We Are Home, dir. Roman Krasnoshchok, Anton Chistyakov | 2024, Great Britain, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
1. Archive of the Future / Archiv der Zukunft, dir. Joerg Burger | 2023, Austria — Non-Fiction
2. The Cigarette Surfboard, dir. Ben Judkins | 2024, USA — Non-Fiction
3. Diagnosis: Dissent / БожеВільні, dir. Denys Tarasov | 2023, Ukraine — Fiction
4. KIX, dir. Dávid Mikulán, Bálint Révész | 2024, Hungary, France, Croatia — Non-Fiction
5. Life and Death of a Christmas Tree / Kalėdų eglutės gyvenimas ir mirtis, dir. Arturas Jevdokimovas | 2023, Lithuania, Denmark, Georgia — Non-Fiction
6. Mountain Boy, dir. Zainab Shaheen | 2024, United Arab Emirates, Great Britain — Fiction
7. Mountains, dir. Mónica Sorelle | 2023, USA — Fiction
8. My Place Ozerna / Moja Ozerna, dir. Karina Bedkowska | 2022, Poland — Non-Fiction
9. No Winter Holidays / Dhorpatan, dir. Rajan Kathet, Sunir Pandey | 2023, Nepal, South Korea, Romania — Non-Fiction
10. Once Upon a Time in the Andes / Érase una vez en los Andes, dir. Rómulo Sulca Ricra | 2023, Peru — Fiction
11. Oxygen Station / Киснева станція, dir. Ivan Tymchenko | 2023, Ukraine, Czechia, Sweden, Slovakia — Fiction
12. Plague / Чума, dir. Ivan Vladimirov | 2023, Bulgaria — Fiction
13. Rap and Reindeer / Revontulten räppäri, dir. Petteri Saario | 2023, Finland — Non-Fiction
14. Seven Blessings / Sheva Brachot, dir. Ayelet Menahemi | 2023, Israel — Fiction
15. That They May Face the Rising Sun, dir. Pat Collins | 2023, Ireland, Great Britain (Northern Ireland) — Fiction
16. Weightless / Невагома, dir. Marta Hryniuk, Nick Thomas | 2023, Netherlands, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
OKO GLOBAL Short Film Competition
1. 2720, dir. Basil da Cunha | 2023, Portugal, Switzerland — Fiction
2. About Happy Hippos and Sad Peacocks, dir. Elkin Calderon Guevara, Johannes Förster | 2024, Germany, Colombia — Non-Fiction
3. Abel, dir. Dekel Berenson, Paul Wesley | 2024, USA, Great Britain, Mexico — Fiction
4. Almost Forgotten / Quase Me Lembro, dir. Miguel Lima, Dimitri Mihajlovic | 2023, Portugal — Animated
5. Aqueronte, dir. Manuel Muñoz Rivas | 2023, Spain — Fiction
6. Balcony Cacophony, dir. Quentin Haberham | 2023, Netherlands — Animated
7. Been There, dir. Corina Schwingruber Ilić | 2023, Switzerland — Non-Fiction
8. The Big Day / Schützenfest, dir. Lennart Hüper, Lennart Miketta | 2024, Austria, Germany — Non-Fiction
9. The Blanket / Шобрет, dir. Regina Vitányi, Karl Kaisel | 2024, Estonia — Animated
10. Blood / Ratthum, dir. Vathana Suganya Suppiah | 2023, Great Britain — Fiction
11. Bye Bye Benz Benz, dir. Mamoun Rtal Bennani, Jules Rouffio | 2023, France, Morocco — Non-Fiction
12. Comrade Poopy, dir. Anonymous "M" | 2024, Myanmar, France, Japan — Non-Fiction
13. Cross My Heart and Hope To Die, dir. Sam Manacsa | 2023, Philippines — Fiction
14. Dreams Like Paper Boats / Des rêves en bateaux papiers, dir. Samuel Suffren | 2024, Haiti — Fiction
15. Duck Roast / Sorsapaisti, dir. Jelica Jerinić | 2023, Finland — Fiction
16. Fár, dir. Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter | 2023, Iceland — Fiction
17. Forgetting Lenin / Hyvästit Leninille, dir. Inka Achté, Einari Paakkanen | 2024, Finland — Non-Fiction
18. Further and Further Away / Chhngai dach alai, dir. Polen Ly | 2022, Cambodia — Fiction
19. The Goat, dir. Reza Mirzaei | 2024, IRI — Fiction
20. Greylands / Die graue March, dir. Charlotte Waltert, Alvaro Schoeck | 2023, Switzerland — Animated
21. Group Picture / Foto di gruppo, dir. Tommaso Frangini | 2023, Italy — Fiction
22. Holy Water / Swiataja Wada, dir. Andrei Kutsila | 2023, Poland — Non-Fiction
23. Invisible Border / Die unsichtbare Grenze, dir. Mark Gerstorfer | 2022, Austria — Fiction
24. Light of Light / Fos ek fotos, dir. Neritan Zinxhiria | 2023, Greece — Non-Fiction
25. Mariupol. A Hundred Nights / Маріуполь. Сто ночей, dir. Sofiia Melnyk | 2023, Ukraine, Germany — Animated
26. Meet Daniel, dir. Aris Katsigiannis | 2024, Greece — Non-Fiction
27. Memories of the Foreign, dir. Tolga Karaaslan | 2023, Austria — Non-Fiction
28. Nothing Special, dir. Efrat Berger | 2024, France, Israel — Animated
29. Old Summer / Starsza Pani szuka, dir. Maria Wider | 2023, Poland — Non-Fiction
30. Our Uniform, dir. Yegane Moghaddam | 2023, IRI — Animated
31. Phool Dei, dir. Kartik Mahajan | 2024, India — Animated
32. Saturn / Saturno, dir. André Guiomar, Luís Costa | 2022, Portugal — Fiction
33. The Shell Covered Ox / Boi de Conchas, dir. Daniel Barosa | 2024, Brazil, USA — Fiction
34. Sisters of Wind / Hermanas del Viento, dir. Julia Carrizo Solanas | 2024, Argentina — Non-Fiction
35. Spring 23 / Chūn èrshísān, dir. Zhiyi Wang | 2024, China — Fiction
36. Tell Me About the Burryman, dir. Julia Parks | 2023, Great Britain — Non-Fiction
37. Tits, dir. Eivind Landsvik | 2023, Norway — Fiction
38. Tradition / Teamül, dir. Ali Rıza Bayazıt | 2023, Turkey — Fiction
39. What the Soil Remembers, dir. José Cardoso | 2023, Ecuador, South Africa — Non-Fiction
40. Where No Ships Go / Acolo unde bărcile nu ajung, dir. Vlad Buzăianu | 2023, Romania — Fiction
41. Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone? / Pourquoi As-Tu Laissé le Cheval à sa Solitude?, dir. Faouzi Bensaïdi | 2024, France — Fiction
OKO FOCUS — Out of Competition Program
1. Once Upon a Time in Ukraine / The Inglorious Serfs / Безславні кріпаки, dir. Roman Perfilyev | 2020, Ukraine — Fiction
2. Taras. Return / Тарас. Повернення, dir. Oleksandr Denysenko | 2019, Ukraine, Kazakhstan — Fiction
3. Botev: In the Shadow of the Monument / Ботев: в сянката на паметника, dir. Zhezko Davidov | 2016, Bulgaria — Non-Fiction
OKO RETROSPECTIVE — Retrospective Program
== Taras Tomenko`s Retrospective ==
1. Boney Piles / Terykony / Терикони, dir. Taras Tomenko | 2022, Ukraine — Non-Fiction Feature
2. “Slovo” House. Unfinished Novel / Будинок «Слово». Нескінчений роман, dir. Taras Tomenko | 2021, Ukraine — Fiction
3. Slovo House / Будинок «Слово», dir. Taras Tomenko | 2017, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
4. The Shooting Gallery / Тир, dir. Taras Tomenko | 2001, Ukraine — Fiction
5. The Slouther House / Бойня, dir. Taras Tomenko | 1998, Ukraine — Fiction
== OKO — the Best Of — the Retrospective ==
1. A Portrait on the Background of Mountains / Портрет на тлі гір, dir. Max Rudenko | 2019, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
2. The Building / Das Haus / Будинок, dir. Tatyana Kononenko, Matilda Mester | 2019, Ukraine, Germany — Non-Fiction
3. The Devil Deer / Iwianch, el diablo venado, dir. José Cardoso | 2021, Ecuador — Non-Fiction
4. I am Chance, dir. Marc-Henri Wajnberg | 2022, Belgium, Congo — Non-Fiction
OKO HITS — Out of Competition Program
1. Blaga’s Lessons / Уроците на Блага, dir. Stephan Komandarev | 2023, Bulgaria, Germany — Fiction
2. Dyad / Диада, dir. Yana Titova | 2023, Bulgaria — Fiction
3. Four Daughters / Les filles d'Olfa, dir. Kaouther Ben Hania | 2023, France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia — Non-Fiction
4. Heights / Възвишение, dir. Viktor Bozhinov | 2017, Bulgaria North Macedonia — Fiction
OKO SPECIAL — Out of Competition Program
1. (Im)possible to Stay / Лишатися (Не) Можна, dir. Serhii Zeinalov | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
2. Save / Врятуй, dir. Serhii Zeinalov, Maksym Khotilenko | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
3. Almanac “Five Films From the War — A Ukrainian Danish Cross Border Collaboration” / Альманах «П'ять фільмів з війни — українсько-датська транскордонна співпраця», dir. Adda Ellinh, Tetiana Buialo, Ida Gron, Kennet Sorento, Anita Matal Hopland, Troels Hansen, | 2023, Ukraine, Denmark — Non-Fiction
4. War Letters. Letter 1. Pulse of Ukraine / Листи з війни. Лист 1. Пульс України, dir. Tetiana Staneva | 2024, Ukraine, Bulgaria — Non-Fiction
5. The War Has Changed Me This Way / Таким мене зробила війна, dir. Olena Kryvenko | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
6. Women chaplains. Prayer in the Hell / Капеланки. Молитва у пеклі, Suspilne. Ukraine — Non-Fiction
7. My Crimea / Мій Крим, dir. Olena Kryvenko | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction
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