Two Ukrainian films triumph at Sofia International Film Festival
Two films by Ukrainian artists won awards at the 29th Sofia International Film Festival.
As reported by Ukrinform and Rubryka, Oksana Volosheniuk, head of the board of the Union of Film Critics of Ukraine, announced the victory.
"The winners of the renowned and significant Sofia International Film Festival were the feature film Honeymoon and the documentary Dear Beautiful Beloved, in which the filmmakers stay with their protagonists through the most challenging moments of their lives," Volosheniuk said.
The festival's international jury awarded the Sofia City Film Award for Best Film and the Grand Prix of the International Competition to Honeymoon, directed by Zhanna Ozirna and produced by Dmytro Sukhanov.
The film Honeymoon unfolds on February 23, 2022, the day before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"The world is harsh, cruel, and chaotic, filled with war and violence. Many films we watched reflected this turmoil. It is truly extraordinary when a film, despite the state of the world, inspires genuine faith in cinema and its metaphysical power," the jury stated during the award ceremony.
They also praised the film's ability to harness sound as a powerful storytelling tool, using what is heard but not seen to drive the narrative forward.
Photo: provided by the festival organizers
The award for Best Documentary at the 29th Sofia International Film Festival went to Dear Beautiful Beloved, an Austrian-produced film by Ukrainian director Yurii Rechynskyi.
The documentary follows the evacuation of elderly people from Eastern Ukraine and the transportation and burial of fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
The jury described the film as "a powerful and deeply atmospheric testimony to life behind the front lines in Ukraine—the evacuation of the elderly, the return of the dead, and the desperate attempt to escape a grueling reality. The film's observational approach and editing immerse the audience so deeply in the physical and emotional suffering that we feel it alongside those on screen, leaving us stunned and speechless. A deeply moving exploration of humanity and loss in wartime."
Meanwhile, Honeymoon by Zhanna Ozirna also received the festival's Youth Jury Prize.
"Ukrainian cinema continues to bear witness to the great war, leaving audiences, as the jury put it, 'stunned.' But not silent," said Volosheniuk.
Reference
The Sofia International Film Festival runs from March 10 to 31 in Sofia, Bulgaria, and is one of Eastern Europe's leading film events. This year's program featured 171 films from 58 countries, including five from Ukraine:
The Edge of the River (dir. Vasyl Barkov)
The Editors (dir. Roman Bondarchuk)
Peaceful People (dir. Oksana Karpovych)
Real (dir. Oleh Sentsov)
Honeymoon (dir. Zhanna Ozirna)
Let us remind that the documentary Porcelain War, nominated for the 2025 Oscars, won the Directors Guild of America Award (DGA) for Best Documentary Director.
The animated short I Died in Irpin by Anastasia Falileeva won an award at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France.
Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov's latest documentary, 2000 Meters to Andriiivka, was honored at the Sundance Film Festival.
