The Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes is pleased to announce an action-packed Ukraine in Focus program with targeted events designed to support filmmaking in the war-torn territory and provide Ukrainian film industry professionals with networking opportunities, pitching sessions and financing opportunities.

The program will shift the spotlight of the Marché du Film’s key market programs (including Producers Network, Goes to Cannes and Docs-in-Progress) to help Ukraine maintain its typically active film industry.

A close cooperation between the European Commission, the Festival de Cannes and the Marché du Film will ensure the Ukrainian presence at the market and festival. While the European Commission will support the travel and accommodation expenses for Ukrainian professionals, the Festival de Cannes and Marché du Film have waived the fee for Ukraine’s national pavilion.

The Ukraine in Focus program will mostly take place on Saturday 21 May and is comprised of the following events:

• The Producers Network will host “Ukrainian Producers Under the Spotlight” in collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute who will present 6 promising producers: Denis Ivanov (Arthouse Traffic), Darya Bassel (Moon Man), Natalia Libet (Digital Religion), Sashko Chubko (Pronto Film), Olga Beskhmelnytskina (ESSE Production House) and Vladimir Yatsenko (Forefilms).
• Cannes Docs, in partnership with DocuDays & the Ukrainian Institute, will present the Ukraine Docs-in-Progress Showcase, comprised of 4 docs-in-progress unveiled in the form of a pitch and a 10-minute sequence of the rough cut, aiming to grab the attention of doc decision-makers, festival programmers and sales agents.
• The Marché du Film will host “Ukrainian Cinema: From Surviving to Thriving Again,” an insightful panel discussion that will offer the global film community ideas on how they can come together to support the country’s industry during such a tumultuous time.
• Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), the only A-category film festival in Northern Europe, is teaming up with the Marché du Film’s Goes to Cannes program to present an entire selection dedicated to Ukrainian feature films in post-production, still looking for sales agents, distributors or a festival selection, in addition to a special Ukrainian Features Preview.

The Marché du Film also confirms the full endorsement and patronage of Ukrainian Films Now, an initiative promoted by EAVE, First Cut Lab and When East Meets West, bringing together a pool of European regional and national film funds to support Ukrainian films in advanced stages of post-production to complete their final financial gap.

In addition to the Marché du Film program, Ukraine will be honored via films chosen for the Festival de Cannes’ Official Selection and parallel sections. Three Ukrainian films will hold world premieres in Cannes including Maksim Nakonechnkyi’s Butterfly Vision (Un Certain Regard), Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction (Special Screenings) and Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s Pamfir (Director’s Fortnight). One Ukrainian project – Zhanna Ozirna’s Ground Zero – has been selected for La Fabrique Cinéma (Institut Français) and Ukrainian director and screenwriter Iryna Tsilyk is a member of the L’Oeil d’Or Jury.

UKRAINE IN FOCUS (FULL PROGRAM)
Note: All events are open to market badge holders with the exception of the Producers Network and Ukrainian Films Now.

Saturday, May 21 – 9h00-10h30
Plage des Palmes, Lérins
* for Producers Network registered participants only.

Producers Network: Ukrainian Producers Under the Spotlight (presented in collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute)

1. Denis Ivanov (Arthouse Traffic)
2. Darya Bassel (Moon Man)
3. Natalia Libet (Digital Religion)
4. Sashko Chubko (Pronto Film)
5. Olga Beskhmelnytsina (ESSE Production House)
6. Vladimir Yatsenko (ForeFilms)

Saturday, May 21 – 10h00-11:15
Palais H (Palais des Festivals)
Docs-in-Progress (Cannes Docs)
Ukraine Showcase – presented in collaboration with Ukrainian Institute & Festival DocuDays

Company of Steel (Залізна сотня/ Zalizna Sotnya)
Dir: Yuliia Hontaruk
Prod: Yuliia Hontaruk, Ivanna Khitsinska, Alexandra Bratyshchenko, Igor Savychenko

Lagoons. Battle for Paradise
Dir:  Serhii Lysenko
Prod:  Anna Kapustina, Oleksandra Kravchenko

Listening to the World
Dir:  Liza Smith
Prod: Olha Beskhmelnytsina, Eugene Rachkovsky

Peace for Nina
Dir:  Zhanna Maksymenko-Dovhych
Prod: Lyuba Knorozok, Dea Gjinovci

Saturday, May 21 – 11h30-13h00
Marina Stage (Riviera), Palais des Festivals
Panel: “Ukrainian Cinema: From Surviving to Thriving Again: How the Global Film Community Can Come Together to Support the Country’s War-Torn Industry”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February sent unprecedented shockwaves throughout the film and audiovisual industry in the country and across the globe. Like other local industries worldwide due to the health crisis, Ukrainian cinema had to press the pause button on production undetermined period of time. Immense damage has occurred, not just to human lives and urban structures, but also to cultural development. Ukrainian filmmakers had to put their cameras down and replace them with weapons. All the current state funds allocated to help a struggling post-pandemic film industry have been redirected to the protection of the sovereignty of the country. A healthy film sector is far less a priority than keeping the local population alive. The few cameras still rolling are not shooting fictional action sequences or horror films, but instead turning towards the harsh realities of war, depicting the harsh chronicles of battles on European soil.

Now is the time for the global film market to come together to reflect on how the community can support Ukrainian culture. With the contribution of International and Ukrainian film professionals, this talk will focus both on problem-solving in response to immediate issues at hand and a hopeful glance into the future of Ukrainian cinema and its possible regeneration.

Saturday, May 21 – 12h00-13h00
Palais H (Palais des Festivals)
Ukrainian Features Preview – in collaboration with Tallinn Black Nights Festival

ROCK. PAPER. GRENAGE (Я і Фелікс)
Director: Iryna Tsilyk
Producers: Vladimir Yatsenko, Anna Yatsenko – ForeFilms

When We Were 15 (us, 15) (Koly nam bulo 15)
Director: Anna Buryachkova
Producers: Natalia Libet, Vitalii Sheremetiev – Digital Religion

Lapalissade (La Palisiada)
Director: Philip Sotnychenko
Producers: Halyna Kryvorchuk – Viatel, Valeria Sotnychenko and Sashko Chubko – Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema

Lucky Girl (Ya, Nina)
Director: Marysia Nikitiuk
Producers: Yanina Sokolova and Julia Sinkevych – Yanina Sokolova Production

Friday, May 21 – 14h15-16:15
Palais K (Palais des Festivals)
Tallinn Black Nights Goes To Cannes

The Editorial Office (Редакція)
Director: Roman Bondarchuk
Producers: Darya Bassel – Moon Man and Darya Averchenko – South Films and Tanja

Georgieva-Waldhauer – Elemag Pictures
The Glass House (Дім за склом)
Director: Taras Dron
Producers: Igor Savychenko – Directory Films and Valeria Sochyvets – Contemporary Ukrainian Сinema, Rodrigo Ruiz Tarazona – Сіnelab and Taras Dron – Nord Production

Do You Love Me? (Do You Love Me?)
Director: Tonia Noyabrova
Producers: Anastasiia Bukovska, Danylo Kaptyukh – Family Production

Demons (Демони)
Director: Natalka Vorozhbyt
Producers: Dmytro Minzianov – Kristi Film and Denis Ivanov – Arthouse Traffic

Chrysantemum Day (Свято Хризантем)
Director: Simon Mozgovyi
Producers: Alex Chepiga, Artem Koliubaiev, Daryna Zakharova, Kateryna Lachyna – Mainstream Pictures LLC

Sunday, May 22 – 17h00-19h00
Main Stage (Riviera), Palais des Festivals
*by invitation only
Ukrainian Films Now

Marché du Film confirms the full endorsement and patronage of Ukrainian Films Now, an initiative promoted by EAVE, First Cut Lab, and When East Meets West. The initiative aims at gathering a pool of European regional and national film funds to support Ukrainian films at the late stage of post-production to complete the final financial gap.

We believe this action to be one of the tools that can solidly contribute to Ukrainian audiovisual productions at this challenging time for its audiovisual industry. Furthermore, we trust that with this direct help, the Ukrainian cinema will continue its existence in the coming months and will make new films visible and accessible to an international audience.