The 54th International Film Festival “Molodist” has started in Kyiv. This year, 158 films from 59 countries of the world are presented in its international, national, alternative competition programs, as well as in the out-of-competition section.
Within the traditional program “Festival of Festivals”, the audience will be shown the most notable films of the year – winners of Cannes, Locarno, Venice, Berlinale, SUNNY BUNNY and Sundance. The program, in particular, includes the winner of the Sundance International Feature Film Competition “Prickly Pear” directed by Rogan Parashuram Kanavade (India), Sho Miyake’s (Japan) film “Travel and Everyday”, which won the main prize at Locarno, as well as “The Guest” by Vytautas Katkus (Lithuania), which was awarded for directing in Karlovy Vary.
Fans of Romanian director Radu Jude will see two of his new works at once – “Continental ’25”, which received the “Silver Bear” for best screenplay at the Berlinale, and “Dracula”, which had its world premiere in August this year at the Locarno Film Festival.
A world premiere is also expected for the film “If We Never Meet Again”, created by Noaze Dechet, Beau Willimon and Pyotr Verzilov, who is currently fighting against the Russian occupiers as part of the Russian Volunteer Corps.
A selection of modern Ukrainian films will be presented in the competitive and non-competitive programs. The international feature film competition will feature the world premieres of two Ukrainian works — “Our House on Fire” by Olesa Biletskaya and “The Tired” by Yuri Dunay. The national competition included 17 short films. In the “Special Events” section, a new film by the cult Ukrainian director Serhiy Masloboyshchikov, “Yasa”, as well as the animated film by Mykyta Lyskov, “Kyivskyi Tort”, will be shown out of competition.
The main locations of the festival, which will last until November 2, are the “Zhovten” cinema and the House of Cinema.
The history of “Molodist” began in 1970 as a two-day review of short student works at the Kyiv State Institute of Theater Arts named after Karpenko-Kary. Over time, the festival expanded to include films from various regions of the USSR, and since 1975, full-length feature films have been accepted into the competition.
In the 1990s, “Molodist” received the status of an international film festival. Today, it is a specialized event dedicated to debut films, officially registered by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). The festival’s general director is Andrey Khalpakhchi.
