6th Ukraїne! Film Festival in Białystok

November 12, 15-17, 2021
Forum Cinema, 5 Legionowa Street
tickets: 13 PLN (single movie) / 75 PLN (all the movies), available at the Forum cinema’s box office (5 Legionowa Street), Ludwik Zamenhof Centre’s box office (19 Warszawska Street) and on bilety.bok.bialystok.pl

Screening schedule:

November 12
16:15 Ivan’s Land
18:15 Rhino

November 15
16:00 U311 Cherkasy
18:15 Bad Roads

November 16
16:00 This Rain Will Never Stop
18:15 Blindfold

November 17
18:00 Stop-Earth

Film synopses:

Ivan’s Land
Ivan Prykhodko is one of the last folk artists in Ukraine. He is self-taught, lives in the countryside, and everything that comes from under his brushes is naive and honest art. Ivan’s perception of the world, his inner life, is full of beauty and joy. One day Ivan’s paintings are requested for an exhibition at the Art Arsenal, the country’s main exhibition center. Will he exchange his small village hut for the glamorous city life and the company of art critics and agents?

Rhino
Starting out as a petty thief, a young man nicknamed “Rhino” quickly works his way up the criminal hierarchy in 1990s Ukraine. Rhino has only known power and cruelty, but with nothing left to lose, could he finally find a chance at redemption?

U311 Cherkasy
The year is 2014. Mishko and Lev are fellow villagers serving on the minesweeper “Cherkasy”, a ship of the Ukrainian Navy stationed in the port of the Crimean Lake Donuzlav that is connected to the Black Sea. When the invasion of Crimea by the infamous “little green men” begins and President Yanukovych flees the country, the “Cherkasy” and other ships of the Ukrainian fleet are blocked on the lake. Successive Ukrainian ships surrender to the Russians. Only the crew of the “Cherkasy” decide to resist. Meanwhile, the Russians prepare to attack the minesweeper. The crew have to decide whether to defend themselves at all cost and to the very end. Based on true events, this is a story about the last warship in Crimea to sail under the Ukrainian flag.

Bad Roads
Four short stories are set along the roads of Donbass during the war. There are no safe spaces, and no one can make sense of what is happening. Some manage to wield authority over others even as they are trapped in the chaos. However, not everyone is defenceless and miserable in a world where tomorrow may never come. Even the most innocent victims may have their turn at taking charge. Destiny has thousands of ways.

This Rain Will Never Stop
This Rain Will Never Stop takes the audience on a powerful, visually arresting journey through humanity’s endless cycle of war and peace. The film follows 20-year-old Andriy Suleyman as he tries to secure a sustainable future while navigating the human toll of armed conflict. From the Syrian civil war to strife in Ukraine, Andriy’s existence is framed by the seemingly eternal flow of life and death.

Blindfold
Julia, a young MMA fighter, lost her fiance at the war. She quits the sport and starts a new relationship to free herself from the role of the war hero’s widow, which is imposed on her by the environment.

Stop-Earth
An introverted high-school girl Masha sees herself as an outsider unless she hangs around with Yana and Senia who share her non-conformist status. While she is trying to navigate through an intense time of the pre-graduation year, Masha falls in love that forces her to leave her comfort zone. From a debutant Ukrainian director Kateryna Gornostai, a deeply personal story about self-discovery and the patience it requires.