Main Program
With its fourth festival edition, the Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin invites its audience to explore together the concept of "home", its spacial and temporal dimensions through Ukrainian cinema.
Homeland and home are not static concepts. Their perception and meaning are constantly changing and shifting dynamically in our challenging times. The loss of home, ongoing threats to the home place and migration challenge today's generation of Ukrainian filmmakers even more to reinvent their image of home and to question home as a geographical constant. Is home a geographical experience or rather a time experienced and shared with others?
The search for temporal and spatial meanings of home as well as questions of one's own origin and belonging determine this year's festival program of the 4th Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin. Be it personal film stories of directors who fled the war and arrived in Berlin, or cinematic explorations of the 1990s in Ukraine, where most of the contemporary Ukrainian filmmakers grew up.
"Together we want to explore the temporal aspect/dimension of home/homeland and make visible its ever-changing meanings throughout history and in our fragile/unstable present." - comments the festival curators on their festival motto for this year.
The festival will present/screen, among others, the documentaries "Iron Butterflies" by Roman Liubyi and "We will not fade away" by Alisa Kovalenko, which premiered at the Berlinale 2023. A retrospective of Ukrainian Poetic Cinema of the 1960s will also be dedicated to the era and the films that have had a significant impact on the history and identity of Ukrainian cinema/Ukrainian film history. A retrospective will be shown for the first time this year as part of the festival and is presented in cooperation with the Ukrainian Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre and the German DEFA-Stiftung.
The curated animation shorts program, created in collaboration with the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, showcases the talents of Ukrainian animators. These works are characterized by their strangeness, wildness, and freedom, and they do not adhere to a common theme; each one tells its own distinctive story. While war serves as a prominent theme in many of the films, it plays different roles—sometimes serving as the central antagonist and at other times representing a tragic routine that has become an inescapable part of the characters' lives.
UNDER THE ENDLESS SKY | Oleksandra Dzhiganska | 4’ | 2022
TROIA | Andriy Naumenko | 3’ | 2022
MARIUPOL. A HUNDRED NIGHTS | Sofiia Melnyk | 7’ | 2022
SPRING | Mykyta Lyskov | 2’ | 2023
KYIV-UZHOROD | Dar’ya Terekhova | 2’ | 2023
THE WAR THAT CHANGED RONDO | Olha Havrylova | 16’ | 2020
DEEP WATER | Anna Dudko | 6’ | 2021
THE WAR THAT IS ALWAYS AROUND | Irina Harkavets | 1’ | 2022
THE RESPONSIBLE HERO | Roman Lysenko | 5’ | 2021
UNNECESSARY THINGS | Dmytro Lisenbart| 14’ | 2020
PAPER OR PLASTIC | Nata Metlukh | 8’ | 2019
WITHOUT YOU I‘M NOTHING / OKEAN ELZY | Oksana Kurmaz| 3’ | 2022
SILENT WITNESS | Anhelina Bilous| 00:29’ | 2023
SCREENINGS
26.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
27.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
The program "No Time Like Home" is dedicated to showcasing a curated selection of recently created short films that emerged in the aftermath of a full-scale invasion. Exploring the themes of home, displacement, and the search for belonging, these films offer deeply personal narratives from the perspective of Ukrainians profoundly impacted by these events.
WAKING UP IN SILENCE | Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi |17’ | 2023
I STUMBLE EVERY TIME I HEAR FROM KYIV |Daryna Mamaisur | 17’ | 2023
THREE WINDOWS ON SOUTH WEST | Mariia Ponomarova | 8’ | 2023
THE LIGHTS OF KYIV | Serhii Tykhoniuk |16’ | 2023
ONE ALOE, ONE FICUS, ONE AVOCADO AND SIX DRACAENAS | Marta Smerechynska | 8’ | 2023
I DID NOT WANT TO MAKE A WAR FILM | Nadiia Parfan| 17’ | 2022
SCREENINGS
28.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
In the summer of 2014, sunflower fields and coal mines in eastern Ukraine turned into a 12 square kilometers crime scene. A multi-layered investigation into the downing of flight MH17, in which a butterfly-shaped shrapnel was found in the pilot’s body, implicated the state responsible for a war crime that remains unpunished.
SCREENINGS
25.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 1
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
26.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
Through raw, personal footage, AP cinematographer Mstyslav Chernov paints an unapologetic picture of Mariupol’s siege.
The talk after the film is organized by the Pilecki Institute Berlin in cooperation with Vitsche e.V.
SCREENINGS
29.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 1
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
In 2014, five Ukrainian teens grew up amidst war-torn Donbas. Shelling and gunfire became routine, overshadowing their yearning for a better life. A Himalayan expedition offered them a fleeting escape, however, it was shattered by Russia's 2022 invasion.
SCREENINGS
26.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, Berlin
TICKETS
27.10., 19:00
IL Kino
Nansenstraße 22, 12047 Berlin
TICKETS
Ukraine, 1996. Two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, investigate a murder of their colleague. Long time ago, both of them were in love with the widow of the deceased. Immersed in the complicated case and long forgotten memories, they create a future where their children have to live, inheriting unrealized aspirations of their parents.
SCREENINGS
27.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
RULE OF TWO WALLS is an intimate look at the war in Ukraine, as seen through the eyes of Ukrainian artists who remained in their country to make art as a defiant act in the face of aggression.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
One year before the Soviet Union collapses. Kira (17 y.o) is stepping out of her adolescence into adult life at the very same moment as Ukraine steps out of Soviet slavery into the unknown. Together they will try all kinds of things for the first time – funny, dangerous, rebellious – as every teenager does.
Watch Trailer
SCREENINGS
26.10., 20:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
"Three Women" is a glimpse into a scenic Ukrainian Carpathian village, through the lives of Hanna, Maria, and Nelya. The film captures their everyday chores and ardent longings, exploring themes of identity and community in a changing world.
SCREENINGS
26.10., 19:00
IL Kino
Nansenstraße 22, 12047 Berlin
TICKETS
27.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
The van, a multifaceted sanctuary, travels thousands of kilometers, capturing heartfelt confessions and a collective portrait of Ukrainians striving for safety amidst conflict. Temporary asylum unites them, transcending differences, while the grim reality of war's reflection remains palpable in the background.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 17:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
29.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
The curated animation shorts program, created in collaboration with the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, showcases the talents of Ukrainian animators. These works are characterized by their strangeness, wildness, and freedom, and they do not adhere to a common theme; each one tells its own distinctive story. While war serves as a prominent theme in many of the films, it plays different roles—sometimes serving as the central antagonist and at other times representing a tragic routine that has become an inescapable part of the characters' lives.
UNDER THE ENDLESS SKY | Oleksandra Dzhiganska | 4’ | 2022
TROIA | Andriy Naumenko | 3’ | 2022
MARIUPOL. A HUNDRED NIGHTS | Sofiia Melnyk | 7’ | 2022
SPRING | Mykyta Lyskov | 2’ | 2023
KYIV-UZHOROD | Dar’ya Terekhova | 2’ | 2023
THE WAR THAT CHANGED RONDO | Olha Havrylova | 16’ | 2020
DEEP WATER | Anna Dudko | 6’ | 2021
THE WAR THAT IS ALWAYS AROUND | Irina Harkavets | 1’ | 2022
THE RESPONSIBLE HERO | Roman Lysenko | 5’ | 2021
UNNECESSARY THINGS | Dmytro Lisenbart| 14’ | 2020
PAPER OR PLASTIC | Nata Metlukh | 8’ | 2019
WITHOUT YOU I‘M NOTHING / OKEAN ELZY | Oksana Kurmaz| 3’ | 2022
SILENT WITNESS | Anhelina Bilous| 00:29’ | 2023
SCREENINGS
26.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
27.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
The program "No Time Like Home" is dedicated to showcasing a curated selection of recently created short films that emerged in the aftermath of a full-scale invasion. Exploring the themes of home, displacement, and the search for belonging, these films offer deeply personal narratives from the perspective of Ukrainians profoundly impacted by these events.
WAKING UP IN SILENCE | Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi |17’ | 2023
I STUMBLE EVERY TIME I HEAR FROM KYIV |Daryna Mamaisur | 17’ | 2023
THREE WINDOWS ON SOUTH WEST | Mariia Ponomarova | 8’ | 2023
THE LIGHTS OF KYIV | Serhii Tykhoniuk |16’ | 2023
ONE ALOE, ONE FICUS, ONE AVOCADO AND SIX DRACAENAS | Marta Smerechynska | 8’ | 2023
I DID NOT WANT TO MAKE A WAR FILM | Nadiia Parfan| 17’ | 2022
SCREENINGS
28.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
In the summer of 2014, sunflower fields and coal mines in eastern Ukraine turned into a 12 square kilometers crime scene. A multi-layered investigation into the downing of flight MH17, in which a butterfly-shaped shrapnel was found in the pilot’s body, implicated the state responsible for a war crime that remains unpunished.
SCREENINGS
25.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 1
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
26.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
Through raw, personal footage, AP cinematographer Mstyslav Chernov paints an unapologetic picture of Mariupol’s siege.
The talk after the film is organized by the Pilecki Institute Berlin in cooperation with Vitsche e.V.
SCREENINGS
29.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 1
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
In 2014, five Ukrainian teens grew up amidst war-torn Donbas. Shelling and gunfire became routine, overshadowing their yearning for a better life. A Himalayan expedition offered them a fleeting escape, however, it was shattered by Russia's 2022 invasion.
SCREENINGS
26.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, Berlin
TICKETS
27.10., 19:00
IL Kino
Nansenstraße 22, 12047 Berlin
TICKETS
Ukraine, 1996. Two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, investigate a murder of their colleague. Long time ago, both of them were in love with the widow of the deceased. Immersed in the complicated case and long forgotten memories, they create a future where their children have to live, inheriting unrealized aspirations of their parents.
SCREENINGS
27.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
RULE OF TWO WALLS is an intimate look at the war in Ukraine, as seen through the eyes of Ukrainian artists who remained in their country to make art as a defiant act in the face of aggression.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 19:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
One year before the Soviet Union collapses. Kira (17 y.o) is stepping out of her adolescence into adult life at the very same moment as Ukraine steps out of Soviet slavery into the unknown. Together they will try all kinds of things for the first time – funny, dangerous, rebellious – as every teenager does.
Watch Trailer
SCREENINGS
26.10., 20:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
"Three Women" is a glimpse into a scenic Ukrainian Carpathian village, through the lives of Hanna, Maria, and Nelya. The film captures their everyday chores and ardent longings, exploring themes of identity and community in a changing world.
SCREENINGS
26.10., 19:00
IL Kino
Nansenstraße 22, 12047 Berlin
TICKETS
27.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
The van, a multifaceted sanctuary, travels thousands of kilometers, capturing heartfelt confessions and a collective portrait of Ukrainians striving for safety amidst conflict. Temporary asylum unites them, transcending differences, while the grim reality of war's reflection remains palpable in the background.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 17:00
Filmtheater Colosseum - Kino 2
Gleimstraße 33, 10437 Berlin
TICKETS
29.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
UA Hits
There are many beautiful places to die. Luxembourg is not one of them. But beautiful or not, Luxembourg makes dying very expensive. When twin brothers hear that their long-absent father is sick in Luxembourg, they set out on a journey to see him one last time. Will the man they find be the badass father they remember?
Watch Trailer
SCREENINGS
28.10., 21:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
In the 18th century, Hutsuls of the Carpathians face foreign rule, leading to the rise of the Dovbush brothers as mountain outlaws. Oleksa, driven by ideals, faces a plot targeting his love, Marichka.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
29.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
There are many beautiful places to die. Luxembourg is not one of them. But beautiful or not, Luxembourg makes dying very expensive. When twin brothers hear that their long-absent father is sick in Luxembourg, they set out on a journey to see him one last time. Will the man they find be the badass father they remember?
Watch Trailer
SCREENINGS
28.10., 21:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
In the 18th century, Hutsuls of the Carpathians face foreign rule, leading to the rise of the Dovbush brothers as mountain outlaws. Oleksa, driven by ideals, faces a plot targeting his love, Marichka.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 19:00
SPUTNIK KINO
Hasenheide 54/5th, 10967 Berlin
TICKETS
29.10., 19:00
ACUD Kino
Veteranenstraße 21, 10119 Berlin
TICKETS
Retrospective:
Ukrainian Poetic Cinema
As part of the inaugural retrospective program of Ukrainian cinema focusing on Ukrainian poetic cinema – a film movement that emerged in Ukraine during the Soviet era in the 1960s and 1970s – UFFB presents three brilliant examples of Ukrainian filmmaking that are part of Ukraine's film heritage and showcase Ukrainian national identity in an original artistic style. These films include:
"The White Bird Marked with Black" by Jurij Illienko
Ivan Mykolajchuk's "BABYLON XX"
Another film by Ivan Mykolajchuk, created in 1981, titled "Such Late, Such Warm Autumn"
The retrospective program was curated by Valentina Zalevska, a staff member of UFFB. Following each film in the retrospective, there will be a discussion with Oleksii Isakov, research assistant at the Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). Oleksii is currently pursuing a doctorate on the topic of Ukrainian Poetic Cinema of the 1960s-1970s.
The films in the series focus on Ukrainian identity and folklore and could be described as "folk modernism." The "peasant lyricism" of Soviet director and native Ukrainian Oleksandr Dovzhenko is seen as a significant influence on this cinematic movement.
The school of poetic cinema included artists with a distinct individual style and a desire not only to reproduce but also to create, to shape the reality of art. Their work radically changed the cinematic landscape of the time, breaking free from the stifling atmosphere of aesthetic constraints and creating a vibrant national phenomenon. Poetic cinema became a milestone, representing Ukraine in the cinematic world, not only internationally but also for Ukrainians themselves.
However, the development of Ukrainian poetic cinema also triggered another wave of repression by the Soviet ideological apparatus against Ukrainian cinema, national consciousness, and non-traditional artistic exploration. Many films of this movement were banned in the USSR due to ideological censorship and were only allowed to be screened in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
UFFB is supported by Medienbord Berlin Brandenburg and the DEFA Foundation. Festival partners include the Goethe-Institut in Exile, the Pilecki Institute, Culture Helps, the East European Institute at the Free University of Berlin, the DGO (German Society for Eastern European Studies / Young DGO), the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, the Dovzhenko Centre, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Ukrainian Institute.
Mykolaychuk made history in world cinema in the 1960s, playing the role of Ivan in Sergei Parajanov's “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”. But Mykolaychuk himself also made brilliant, poetic, authorial films that are incredibly interesting to watch today. His films are surprisingly polyphonic: folk songs in different languages, colorful heroines and heroes in a complex, intricate ecosystem of social life.
Babylon XX is the directorial debut of actor Ivan Mykolaychuk. Set in the picturesque Ukrainian village of Babylon in the 1920s, the film tells the story of the clash between the old and new political worlds. The international premiere of the film took place at the Locarno Film Festival, and it became a high-profile event, even though it was shot at a time (1979) when Ukrainian cinema was under considerable pressure from the official Soviet government.
SCREENINGS
27.10., 20:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
Another "Bukovinian story" tells the story of Rusnak, a peasant who leaves for Canada in search of a better life and later returns home with his granddaughter Orysia. Through the character of Orysia, Ivan Mykolaychuk raises an important issue of national consciousness: in Bukovyna, Orysia falls in love with a local boy and realizes her own national identity. It was Ivan Mykolaychuk who played the handsome village boy Hryhor, with whom Orysia falls in love.
SCREENINGS
29.10., 20:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
The White Bird Marked with Black is a landmark film of the Ukrainian cinema era, a film that belongs to the school of Ukrainian poetic cinema, a famous film directed by Yuriy Illienko and shot at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko Kyiv Film Studio. Despite the fact that Yuriy Illienko shot the film back in 1970, it was released on the big screen only two years later, on January 17, 1972! 50 years later, The White Bird Marked with Black is still among the most iconic films, ranking 8th in the list of the 100 best films in the history of Ukrainian cinema.
SCREENINGS
27.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
Mykolaychuk made history in world cinema in the 1960s, playing the role of Ivan in Sergei Parajanov's “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”. But Mykolaychuk himself also made brilliant, poetic, authorial films that are incredibly interesting to watch today. His films are surprisingly polyphonic: folk songs in different languages, colorful heroines and heroes in a complex, intricate ecosystem of social life.
Babylon XX is the directorial debut of actor Ivan Mykolaychuk. Set in the picturesque Ukrainian village of Babylon in the 1920s, the film tells the story of the clash between the old and new political worlds. The international premiere of the film took place at the Locarno Film Festival, and it became a high-profile event, even though it was shot at a time (1979) when Ukrainian cinema was under considerable pressure from the official Soviet government.
SCREENINGS
27.10., 20:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
Another "Bukovinian story" tells the story of Rusnak, a peasant who leaves for Canada in search of a better life and later returns home with his granddaughter Orysia. Through the character of Orysia, Ivan Mykolaychuk raises an important issue of national consciousness: in Bukovyna, Orysia falls in love with a local boy and realizes her own national identity. It was Ivan Mykolaychuk who played the handsome village boy Hryhor, with whom Orysia falls in love.
SCREENINGS
29.10., 20:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
The White Bird Marked with Black is a landmark film of the Ukrainian cinema era, a film that belongs to the school of Ukrainian poetic cinema, a famous film directed by Yuriy Illienko and shot at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko Kyiv Film Studio. Despite the fact that Yuriy Illienko shot the film back in 1970, it was released on the big screen only two years later, on January 17, 1972! 50 years later, The White Bird Marked with Black is still among the most iconic films, ranking 8th in the list of the 100 best films in the history of Ukrainian cinema.
SCREENINGS
27.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
Georgian Film Series
Georgian filmmakers are currently boycotting the so-called 'reorganization' of the country's most important film institution, the "Georgian National Film Center." For two decades, it served as a free and critical hub for film funding, representing freedom from censorship and the internationalization of Georgian cinema. Georgia's film industry is currently facing an existential crisis, and filmmakers no longer feel adequately represented by state institutions. UFFB aims to provide an international platform for contemporary Georgian cinema. The festival also seeks to show solidarity with Georgian filmmakers in their struggle for a free film and cultural scene and present the audience with the latest works from the country.
With three recent films by Georgian filmmakers, including Soso Bliadze's "A Room of my Own" (2022), Anna Dziapshipas' "Self-Portrait along the Borderline" (2023), and Mariam Chachia and Nik Voigt's film "Magic Mountain" (2023), this film series aligns directly with this year's UFFB festival theme, "No time like home," and explores the concept of "home" through these films. In these movies, "home" is not merely perceived as a space of safety and comfort but also carries a traumatic memory of fear and loss.
The Georgian film series is organized in cooperation with Junge DGO (Youth Chapter of the German Association of Eastern European Studies) and the Mediothek of the Institute for East European Studies at the Free University of Berlin.
Abastumani – a unique resort in Georgia, must yield to the country's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili. The place that for more than a century often offered tuberculosis patients their last hope remained a persistent thought in the director's dreams. Through her personal medical history, the narrator approaches the fairy-tale-like and eerie past of the location. "The Magic Mountain of Abastumani" transforms – if only briefly – from a place of isolation and death into one of solidarity and mutual care.
SCREENINGS
29.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
In her essay film, the Georgian-Abkhazian director retrospectively explores her identity in a border region filled with trauma and loss. Over 20 years later, she can return to her abandoned house in occupied Abkhazia. A summer house like a spider's web, keeping the first-person narrator trapped in the past. Using the family archive, Anna Dziapshipa reconstructs an intimate portrait of a Georgian-Abkhazian family and reflects on questions of identity and memory work in the context of war.
The film is followed by Q&As with the film director Anna Dziapshipa.
SCREENINGS
26.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
The film by Ioseb (Soso) Bliadze tells the story of Tina and Megi, two young women who become roommates by chance. In their shared flat, worlds collide as these two women from very different social milieux navigate their new life together. Megi is a sociable and modern woman with many friends and an outgoing lifestyle who plans to leave the country after her US visa is approved. On the other hand, Tina, who comes from a conservative family and is already divorced at the age of 25 and has been struggling to find her place in the world after the dissolution of her marriage. Despite their distinct backgrounds, both women encounter similar obstacles as they transition into adulthood. Throughout the film, their shared apartment becomes a haven of support and a merging of their disparate worlds.
The film screening is followed by the Q&As with Taki Mumladze, the co-author and one of the main actresses, and Eva Blondiau, the producer.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
Abastumani – a unique resort in Georgia, must yield to the country's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili. The place that for more than a century often offered tuberculosis patients their last hope remained a persistent thought in the director's dreams. Through her personal medical history, the narrator approaches the fairy-tale-like and eerie past of the location. "The Magic Mountain of Abastumani" transforms – if only briefly – from a place of isolation and death into one of solidarity and mutual care.
SCREENINGS
29.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
In her essay film, the Georgian-Abkhazian director retrospectively explores her identity in a border region filled with trauma and loss. Over 20 years later, she can return to her abandoned house in occupied Abkhazia. A summer house like a spider's web, keeping the first-person narrator trapped in the past. Using the family archive, Anna Dziapshipa reconstructs an intimate portrait of a Georgian-Abkhazian family and reflects on questions of identity and memory work in the context of war.
The film is followed by Q&As with the film director Anna Dziapshipa.
SCREENINGS
26.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS
The film by Ioseb (Soso) Bliadze tells the story of Tina and Megi, two young women who become roommates by chance. In their shared flat, worlds collide as these two women from very different social milieux navigate their new life together. Megi is a sociable and modern woman with many friends and an outgoing lifestyle who plans to leave the country after her US visa is approved. On the other hand, Tina, who comes from a conservative family and is already divorced at the age of 25 and has been struggling to find her place in the world after the dissolution of her marriage. Despite their distinct backgrounds, both women encounter similar obstacles as they transition into adulthood. Throughout the film, their shared apartment becomes a haven of support and a merging of their disparate worlds.
The film screening is followed by the Q&As with Taki Mumladze, the co-author and one of the main actresses, and Eva Blondiau, the producer.
SCREENINGS
28.10., 18:00
City Kino Wedding
Müllerstraße 74, 13349 Berlin
TICKETS