From poignant historical dramas to modern masterpieces, films about Ukraine tell the story of its diverse culture and the unwavering strength of its people. In cinema, creators reflect on the past and future, reveal the truth, inspire audiences to seek knowledge and encourage them to return to their roots.
In this selection, we will examine 10 essential films that deserve attention. These films will help you learn more about Ukraine through the art of cinema.
“Heritage of the Nation. Embroider to Survive” (2016)
“Heritage of the Nation” is the first feature-length documentary about embroidered shirts. It was created by director Oleksandr Tkachuk and idea author and scriptwriter Lesya Voronyuk, who is also the initiator and founder of Embroidery Day.
The film was shot in six countries: Ukraine, Canada, Italy, the UAE, Germany, and Russia.
The documentary visually illustrates that the embroidered shirt is a material and a spiritual heritage of the Ukrainian people. It is our symbol and talisman, passed down from generation to generation as a priceless treasure. The embroidered shirt unites Ukrainians and presents Ukraine to the world. In it, the genetic code of the nation is stitched.
The film looks at the embroidered shirt in two dimensions: ethnographic, which shows the diversity of patterns, embroidery techniques, and cuts depending on the region, and through the stories of people whose lives were changed by the embroidered shirt. After all, the embroidered shirt saved, united, and symbolized resilience or the last hope for the film’s heroes.
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” (2015)
“Winter on Fire” is a significant and critical documentary for all Ukrainians. It tells the story of the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine during the winter of 2013–2014. Directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, the film was shot by 28 cameramen who were direct participants in the events.
The film illustrates the incredible events of the Maidan, where people never gave up, even in the most challenging moments, and fought to the end despite bloodshed and despair. The film’s heroes are ordinary activists — medics, priests, artists, etc.
Critics praised “Winter on Fire.” 2016, the film was nominated for an Academy Award and received several nominations and awards at international film festivals, including the Toronto Film Festival in 2015.
“Haytarma” (2013)
“Haytarma” (from Crimean Tatar: qaytarma—return) is the first full-length feature film about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in May 1944.
The plot centers around the famous pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Crimean Tatar Amet-Khan Sultan.
After Crimea was liberated from the Nazis, he, along with his comrades-in-arms, went to his parents in Alupka. It was during this time that the NKVD began the forced deportation of the Crimean Tatars, and the Soviet pilot was unable to prevent this tragedy from happening to his people.
The film, directed by and starring Akhtem Seitablaev, was shot in Alupka, Bakhchisarai, and Sudak. Over 3,000 people, including elderly survivors of the 1944 deportation, participated in the mass scenes.
“The House of ‘Slovo’” (2017)
The documentary film The House of Slovo by Taras Tomenko discusses the destruction of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and the people gathered under one roof in the Writers’ House Slovo. The Soviet authorities repressed writers such as Volodymyr Sosiura, Mykola Kulish, Pavlo Tychyna, Ivan Bahriany, Oles Dospivnyi, and Myk Johansen.
The house, with more than 60 apartments, was built in the 1920s in the then-capital of the Ukrainian SSR, Kharkiv, with the assistance of Joseph Stalin. Architect Mykhailo Dashkevich oversaw its design. He designed the building in the shape of the letter “C” as a symbol of the word. The structure featured elements of Art Nouveau and Constructivism.
The house was equipped with a unique surveillance system to monitor the lives of its inhabitants—artists, poets, writers, editors, and directors. It was inhabited in 1930. At that time, none of the cultural figures suspected that agents were watching them or that the authorities intended to destroy them.
Eventually, the Soviet authorities revealed their true intentions — repression, arrests, and suicides of cultural figures began. The residents of 40 apartments were arrested, and the house became known as the “crematorium” and “pre-trial detention house.” Today, the “Slovo” House is a bloody symbol of the former Soviet system.
“Home” (2019)
The drama “Home” is the debut film by director Nariman Aliyev. He co-wrote the screenplay with Marisya Nikityuk, the creator of the movie “When Trees Fall.” Akhtem Seitablaev played the lead role.
“Home” tells the story of a Crimean Tatar family. When Mustafa’s older son, Nazim, dies, he travels to Kyiv, where his two sons had relocated after the annexation of Crimea, to bring his younger son, Alim, back home and bury the older one in their native land in Crimea, according to Muslim traditions.
The film was shot in Kyiv and its region, the Mykolaiv region, the Arabat Spit, and Sivash Lake.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2019. In 2020, director Nariman Aliyev and actor Akhtem Seitablaev received the Golden Dzyga and the film Critics’ Prize, Film Critics’e.
Price of Truth” (2019)
“The Price of Truth” is an adaptation of the literary work by American author Andrea Chalupa about the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. She also contributed to the screenplay. The project was consulted by American historian and writer Timothy Snyder.
The film tells the story of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who was the first to reveal the truth about the Holodomor in Ukraine and other horrific crimes committed by the Soviet regime. Jones’ exposé would later serve as the basis for George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm”.
The British newspaper The Guardian called “The Price of Truth” one of the best films of 2019.
“EuroDonbas” (2023)
Donbas is known as an industrial region, but it did not become such because of the Soviet regime. The region’s rise began long before the Bolsheviks came to power. Germans, Belgians, Britons, French, and Americans founded the local industry.
The investigative film “EuroDonbas” debunks Soviet myths and vividly illustrates that more than 100 years ago, Donbas was an integral part of the European world.
In the film by Korniy Hrytsuk, Mariupol, Lysychansk, Druzhkivka, and the village of New York are shown as before the full-scale invasion. After February 24, 2022, Russian occupiers destroyed almost all the filmed European heritage sites.
“The Guide, or Flowers Have Eyes” (2014)
“The Guide” is a Ukrainian drama directed and written by Oles Sanin.
The film tells the story of an American engineer, Michael Shemrock, who, in 1932-1933, came to work in Kharkiv with his son. In Ukraine, he falls in love with actress Olga Levitska, who also attracts the attention of ODP officials. After secret documents about repression fall into the hands of a foreigner, Michael is killed by the secret services. His little son, Peter, is saved from the pursuers by a blind kobzar, Ivan Kochherga. Eventually, the boy becomes the musician’s guide.
Blind people participated in the filming of “The Guide.” They played blind bandurists being persecuted by the Soviet authorities. The film was adapted for the blind in cinemas.
“The Nightingale Sings. As Long as It Has a Voice” (2019)
This documentary film was created by director Serhiy Krymsky and idea author, scriptwriter, and producer Lesya Voronyuk. The idea for the film emerged in 2014 when the war in the east of the country began.
The filmmakers relentlessly search for an answer to the question, “Why is speaking Ukrainian in 21st-century Ukraine nonsense for many citizens? Why do these citizens feel rejection and resistance?” To answer this question, the creators delve into the history of the language, debunk myths surrounding it, and analyze the Ukrainian language issue through the experiences of other countries.
The film was shot in Ukraine, Belarus, Israel, the USA, and the UK.
“The Blue Earth, Like an Orange” (2020)
Directed and written by Irina Tsilyk, “The Blue Earth, Like an Orange” is her feature debut. Tsilyk was the first Ukrainian film to participate in the Sundance Film Festival.
The film tells the story of a family living in the “red zone” of Donbas, where the war has been ongoing for the sixth year. In these difficult conditions, 36-year-old Hanna raises four children independently amid constant shelling. Despite the war around them, the family remains close-knit and cheerful. The children and their mothers play musical instruments, film their lives, and never lose hope.
