The OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival (IEFF), which will take place in Bulgaria from November 8 to 15, 2024, announces the list of films and program sections for the 5th-anniversary edition in Sofia.
Competition sections, jury members, and opening/closing films
This year, the film festival team has prepared more than 100 films from 61 countries for the audience, including 53 Ukrainian films made in co-production or by Ukrainian filmmakers, which will be premiered in Bulgaria. We will screen 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. It is important to note that we have already held the International Short Film Competition during the Ukrainian edition of the film festival in Bolhrad (September 8-15), and the winner of the main jury prize in this section became the Ukrainian film “Mariupol. A Hundred Nights” (directed by Sofiia Melnyk).
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.
All competition films will be evaluated by a professional jury consisting of filmmakers, historians, folklorists, anthropologists, and ethnographers from Ukraine and Bulgaria. In addition, the winner of the audience award will be selected based on the results of all offline screenings (except for the films in the OKO SPECIAL, OKO FOCUS and OKO RETROSPECTIVE sections).
The opening film of the 5th edition of the OKO IEFF in Sofiia 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. 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”. We would like to remind you that the film has already won the Audience Grand Prize in the Ukrainian edition of the OKO IEFF and will also compete in the NASHE OKO Feature Film Competition during the Bulgarian edition in Sofiia
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 Bulgaria, and will also take part in the OKO GLOBAL International Feature Film Competition.
Out-of-competition sections and programs
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 offer the audience high-profile Ukrainian films of recent times: the winner of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival The Porcelain War (dir. Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev), Ukraine's entry to the 2025 Oscars, La Palisiade (dir. Philip Sotnychenko), and the documentary hits Us, Our Pets and the War (dir. Anton Ptushkin) and Zinema (dir. Korney Grytsiuk). This section will also feature a screening of a film that made a splash around the world, won at Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar. This is the work Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania, which combines documentary and fictional reconstruction.
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 in Bulgaria is going to screen more than 100 films offline in Sofia from November 8 to 15, as well as 27 films online, which will be available for viewing on the Bulgarian platform Neterra.TV, from November 8 to December 8.
Festival activities
The official opening ceremony of the 5th edition of the OKO IEFF will take place on November 8, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at the National Palace of Culture, Hall 11, Lumiere Cinema (1 Bulgaria Square). The star guests at the gala concert will be the members of the ethno-electronic project GG GulayGorod, who will come to Bulgaria especially for our event.
During the film festival week, there will be a charity fair with souvenirs, festival merch and crafts from Bessarabian manufacturers, and an ethnic exhibition with a photo zone for guests who want to take a photo on the memory of our event. In addition, photographers Oleksandr Baron (Ukraine) and Rumien Sarandiev (Bulgaria) will present an exhibition of 40 photographs entitled War through two camera lenses: Where Silence Screams.
However, OKO is not only about cinema and entertainment. We are going to have three discussion panels: Cinema and Propaganda. Information Hygiene and Politics; Bulgarian Cultural Heritage in Ukraine: Threats and Ways of Preservation (in partnership with ANTS), How did Ukraine remove the monuments of the occupier and why does Bulgaria have difficulties with this?. The Film Festival will also organize a focus conversation about two key figures in the history of Ukraine and Bulgaria, titled National Awakeners of Ukraine and Bulgaria. A Comparative Characteristics of Shevchenko and Botev. The presentation of the book My Sister, Sofiia by Larysa Ivshyna, a well-known Ukrainian journalist and public and cultural figure, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian daily newspaper Day will be a unique event for Bulgaria. This book is an attempt to clarify the most important issues of Bulgarian history and, through them, to feel the “knots” of unknown Ukrainian history even more accurately. The members of the Pra Folklore group will sing authentic Ukrainian songs at the official closing ceremony of the OKO IEFF.
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, our Festival is a Ukrainian-Bulgarian, 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!
The full lineup of the Bulgarian edition 2024
NASHE OKO Feature Film Competition
1. Axe / Bartka / Бартка, dir. Volodymyr Bakum | 2022, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 92
2. Breathing / Дихання, dir. Viktor Petrenko, Maria Pankova | 2022, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 42
3. Cupressus/ Кипарис, dir. Mykola Nosok | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 71
4. Dear Odesa / Одеса уві сні, dir. Kyrylo Naumko | 2022, Italy, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 52
5. Demiurge / Деміург, dir. Olga Semak | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 94
6. Kilometre / Кілометр, dir. Hanna Tykha | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 75
7. The Light Slipping Through / Проникаюче світло, dir. Volodymyr Kliuiev | 2024, Ukraine/Poland — Non-Fiction | 52
8. A Poem for Little People / Поема для маленьких людей, dir. Ivan Sautkin | 2023, Ukraine, Lithuania, Great Britain — Non-Fiction | 84
9. Rule of Two Walls / Правило двох стін, dir. David Gutnik | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 77
10. War Tails, dir. Olha Byrledianu | 2024, Canada, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 54
NASHE OKO Short Film Competition
1. And that’s for this Christmas / И това е за тази Коледа, dir. Peter Vulchev | 2024, Bulgaria — Fiction | 14
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 | 24
3. Blackthorn Blossom / Fleurs d'épine, dir. Olga Stuga | 2023, France, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 22
4. COMMA, dir. Sonia Leliukh | 2023, Germany, Ukraine — Animated | 4
5. Damore — About Love / Даморе — за любовта, dir. Nicola Zambelli | 2023, Bulgaria — Fiction | 23
6. ! (Exclamation Mark), dir. Orest Smilianets | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 4
7. Giorgos Gounaropoulos from Sozopol / Йоргос Гунаропулос от Созопол, dir. Elisaveta Stantcheva | 2023, Bulgaria — Non-Fiction | 27
8. Heart Hug / Обіруч, dir. Rimma Gefen, Nika Zhukova | 2023, Israel — Animated | 9
9. Hut / Хатка, dir. Kate Tiuri | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 13
10. Kalyna Malyna, dir. Pauline Zapolska | 2023, Ukrane, Latvia — Animated | 4
11. Mokosh / Мокош, dir. Anna Dudko | 2023, Ukraine — Animated | 5
12. Mother / Мама, dir. Mariia Felenko | 2023. Ukraine — Fiction | 8
13. My Dad is a Lightning Researcher / Мій тато — дослідник блискавок, dir. Iryna Shostak | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 21
14. Security Council Presidency / Голова Ради Безпеки ООН, dir. Kyrylo Naumko | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 3
15. The Soldier / Солдатик, dir. Danyl Dedkov | 2023. Ukraine — Fiction | 37
16. Spirit, dir. Mariia Khomutina | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 9
17. La Terreur, dir. Mykhal Talkovskyi | 2024, Ukraine — Fiction | 10
18. Trace / Слід, dir. Asparuh Petrov | 2022, Bulgaria — Animated | 7
19. Tutti, dir. Alla Savytska | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 32
20. WAR 24, dir. Tetіana Peresunko, Dmytro Shyshko | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 23
21. We Are Home, dir. Roman Krasnoshchok, Anton Chistyakov | 2024, Great Britain, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 15
OKO GLOBAL Feature Film Competition
1. Archive of the Future / Archiv der Zukunft, dir. Joerg Burger | 2023, Austria — Non-Fiction | 94
2. The Cigarette Surfboard, dir. Ben Judkins | 2024, USA — Non-Fiction | 93
3. Diagnosis: Dissent / БожеВільні, dir. Denys Tarasov | 2023, Ukraine — Fiction | 119
4. KIX, dir. Dávid Mikulán, Bálint Révész | 2024, Hungary, France, Croatia — Non-Fiction | 94
5. Life and Death of a Christmas Tree / Kalėdų eglutės gyvenimas ir mirtis, dir. Arturas Jevdokimovas | 2023, Lithuania, Denmark, Georgia — Non-Fiction | 84
6. Mountain Boy, dir. Zainab Shaheen | 2024, United Arab Emirates, Great Britain — Fiction | 93
7. Mountains, dir. Mónica Sorelle | 2023, USA — Fiction | 95
8. My Place Ozerna / Moja Ozerna, dir. Karina Bedkowska | 2022, Poland — Non-Fiction | 59
9. No Winter Holidays / Dhorpatan, dir. Rajan Kathet, Sunir Pandey | 2023, Nepal, South Korea, Romania — Non-Fiction | 79
10. Once Upon a Time in the Andes / Érase una vez en los Andes, dir. Rómulo Sulca Ricra | 2023, Peru — Fiction | 85
11. Oxygen Station / Киснева станція, dir. Ivan Tymchenko | 2023, Ukraine, Czechia, Sweden, Slovakia — Fiction | 106
12. Plague / Чума, dir. Ivan Vladimirov | 2023, Bulgaria — Fiction | 100
13. Rap and Reindeer / Revontulten räppäri, dir. Petteri Saario | 2023, Finland — Non-Fiction | 75
14. Seven Blessings / Sheva Brachot, dir. Ayelet Menahemi | 2023, Israel — Fiction | 108
15. That They May Face the Rising Sun, dir. Pat Collins | 2023, Ireland, Great Britain (Northern Ireland) — Fiction | 111
16. Weightless / Невагома, dir. Marta Hryniuk, Nick Thomas | 2023, Netherlands, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 73
OKO GLOBAL Short Film Competition
1. 2720, dir. Basil da Cunha | 2023, Portugal, Switzerland — Fiction | 25
2. About Happy Hippos and Sad Peacocks, dir. Elkin Calderon Guevara, Johannes Förster | 2024, Germany, Colombia — Non-Fiction | 29
3. Abel, dir. Dekel Berenson, Paul Wesley | 2024, USA, Great Britain, Mexico — Fiction | 15
4. Almost Forgotten / Quase Me Lembro, dir. Miguel Lima, Dimitri Mihajlovic | 2023, Portugal — Animated | 9
5. Aqueronte, dir. Manuel Muñoz Rivas | 2023, Spain — Fiction | 26
6. Balcony Cacophony, dir. Quentin Haberham | 2023, Netherlands — Animated | 5
7. Been There, dir. Corina Schwingruber Ilić | 2023, Switzerland — Non-Fiction | 10
8. The Big Day / Schützenfest, dir. Lennart Hüper, Lennart Miketta | 2024, Austria, Germany — Non-Fiction | 24
9. The Blanket / Шобрет, dir. Regina Vitányi, Karl Kaisel | 2024, Estonia — Animated | 2
10. Blood / Ratthum, dir. Vathana Suganya Suppiah | 2023, Great Britain — Fiction | 10
11. Bye Bye Benz Benz, dir. Mamoun Rtal Bennani, Jules Rouffio | 2023, France, Morocco — Non-Fiction | 10
12. Comrade Poopy, dir. Anonymous "M" | 2024, Myanmar, France, Japan — Non-Fiction | 20
13. Cross My Heart and Hope To Die, dir. Sam Manacsa | 2023, Philippines — Fiction | 17
14. Dreams Like Paper Boats / Des rêves en bateaux papiers, dir. Samuel Suffren | 2024, Haiti — Fiction | 19
15. Duck Roast / Sorsapaisti, dir. Jelica Jerinić | 2023, Finland — Fiction | 12
16. Fár, dir. Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter | 2023, Iceland — Fiction | 5
17. Forgetting Lenin / Hyvästit Leninille, dir. Inka Achté, Einari Paakkanen | 2024, Finland — Non-Fiction | 6
18. Further and Further Away / Chhngai dach alai, dir. Polen Ly | 2022, Cambodia — Fiction | 24
19. The Goat, dir. Reza Mirzaei | 2024, IRI — Fiction | 17
20. Greylands / Die graue March, dir. Charlotte Waltert, Alvaro Schoeck | 2023, Switzerland — Animated | 12
21. Group Picture / Foto di gruppo, dir. Tommaso Frangini | 2023, Italy — Fiction | 17
22. Holy Water / Swiataja Wada, dir. Andrei Kutsila | 2023, Poland — Non-Fiction | 19
23. Invisible Border / Die unsichtbare Grenze, dir. Mark Gerstorfer | 2022, Austria — Fiction | 27
24. Light of Light / Fos ek fotos, dir. Neritan Zinxhiria | 2023, Greece — Non-Fiction | 12
25. Mariupol. A Hundred Nights / Маріуполь. Сто ночей, dir. Sofiia Melnyk | 2023, Ukraine, Germany — Animated | 8
26. Meet Daniel, dir. Aris Katsigiannis | 2024, Greece — Non-Fiction | 6
27. Memories of the Foreign, dir. Tolga Karaaslan | 2023, Austria — Non-Fiction | 4
28. Nothing Special, dir. Efrat Berger | 2024, France, Israel — Animated | 15
29. Old Summer / Starsza Pani szuka, dir. Maria Wider | 2023, Poland — Non-Fiction | 25
30. Our Uniform, dir. Yegane Moghaddam | 2023, IRI — Animated | 7
31. Phool Dei, dir. Kartik Mahajan | 2024, India — Animated | 7
32. Saturn / Saturno, dir. André Guiomar, Luís Costa | 2022, Portugal — Fiction | 13
33. The Shell Covered Ox / Boi de Conchas, dir. Daniel Barosa | 2024, Brazil, USA — Fiction | 15
34. Sisters of Wind / Hermanas del Viento, dir. Julia Carrizo Solanas | 2024, Argentina — Non-Fiction | 16
35. Spring 23 / Chūn èrshísān, dir. Zhiyi Wang | 2024, China — Fiction | 13
36. Tell Me About the Burryman, dir. Julia Parks | 2023, Great Britain — Non-Fiction | 10
37. Tits, dir. Eivind Landsvik | 2023, Norway — Fiction | 12
38. Tradition / Teamül, dir. Ali Rıza Bayazıt | 2023, Turkey — Fiction | 15
39. What the Soil Remembers, dir. José Cardoso | 2023, Ecuador, South Africa — Non-Fiction | 29
40. Where No Ships Go / Acolo unde bărcile nu ajung, dir. Vlad Buzăianu | 2023, Romania — Fiction | 18
41. Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone? / Pourquoi As-Tu Laissé le Cheval à sa Solitude?, dir. Faouzi Bensaïdi | 2024, France — Fiction | 9
OKO FOCUS — Out of Competition Program
1. Once Upon a Time in Ukraine / The Inglorious Serfs / Безславні кріпаки, dir. Roman Perfilyev | 2020, Ukraine — Fiction | 90
2. Taras. Return / Тарас. Повернення, dir. Oleksandr Denysenko | 2019, Ukraine, Kazakhstan — Fiction | 120
OKO RETROSPECTIVE — Retrospective Program
== Taras Tomenko`s Retrospective ==
1. Boney Piles / Terykony / Терикони, dir. Taras Tomenko | 2022, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 80
2. “Slovo” House. Unfinished Novel / Будинок «Слово». Нескінчений роман, dir. Taras Tomenko | 2021, Ukraine — Fiction | 120
3. Slovo House / Будинок «Слово», dir. Taras Tomenko | 2017, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 81
4. The Shooting Gallery / Тир, dir. Taras Tomenko | 2001, Ukraine — Fiction | 10
5. The Slouther House / Бойня, dir. Taras Tomenko | 1998, Ukraine — Fiction | 10
== OKO — Best Of — Retrospective ==
1. A Portrait on the Background of Mountains / Портрет на тлі гір, dir. Max Rudenko | 2019, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 85
2. The Building / Das Haus / Будинок, dir. Tatyana Kononenko, Matilda Mester | 2019, Ukraine, Germany — Non-Fiction | 93
3. The Devil Deer / Iwianch, el diablo venado, dir. José Cardoso | 2021, Ecuador — Non-Fiction | 94
4. I am Chance, dir. Marc-Henri Wajnberg | 2022, Belgium, Congo — Non-Fiction | 105
OKO HITS — Out of Competition Program
1. Four Daughters / Les filles d'Olfa, dir. Kaouther Ben Hania | 2023, France,Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia — Non-Fiction | 108
2. Porcelain War, dir. Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev | 2024, USA, Ukraine, Australia — Non-Fiction | 88
3. La Palisiada / Ля Палісіада, dir. Philip Sotnychenko | 2023, Ukraine — Fiction | 100
4. Zinema, dir. Kornii Hrytsiuk | 2024, Ukraine, Luxembourg — Non-Fiction | 82
OKO SPECIAL — Out of Competition Program
1. (Im)possible to Stay / Лишатися (Не) Можна, dir. Serhii Zeinalov | 2023, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 104
2. Save / Врятуй, dir. Serhii Zeinalov, Msksym Khotilenko | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 52
3. Almanac «Five Films From the War — A Ukrainian Danish Cross Border Collaboration», dir. various directors | 2023, Ukraine, Denmark — Non-Fiction | 56
3.1. Looking at Someone Looking at War, dir. Adda Elling, Tetiana Buialo
3.2. War Poem, dir. Ida Grøn
3.3. For the Love of Kira, dir. Kenneth Sorento
3.4. Surviving, dir. Anita Mathal Hopland
3.5. Broken Windows, dir. Troels Hansen
4. War Letters. Letter 1. Pulse of Ukraine / Листи з війни. Лист 1. Пульс України, dir. Tetiana Stanieva | 2024, Ukraine, Bulgaria — Non-Fiction | 55
5. Military Chaplains. Pray in Hell / Капеланки. Молитва у пеклі, dir. Olena Kryvenko | 2024, Ukraine — Non-Fiction | 67
Comments