Please welcome the ten films of this year’s feature-length international film programme, including one Ukrainian film.

“Every time we select the finalists for the International Competition, there is a lot of discussion in our Selection Council. Because every year we strive to create a perfect programme which would make up a geopolitical puzzle and make our audience even more well-informed. At the same time, we want every film to be unusual in form, different from the other contestants, and we want it to bring a lot of joy both to film lovers and to guests who find themselves at the festival for the first time ever. We like monitoring films starting at the rough cut stage, because hosting premieres and discovering new names makes us happy. On the other hand, we will never reject a winner of many festivals if we all unanimously loved the film and we can see that it ‘fits’ the programme. It is this sincere admiration of each film that makes DOCU/WORLD.

Every year we choose a fresh Ukrainian film to include in the programme. This year we’ve invited Fragments of Ice by Maria Stoianova, a film that took a long path towards its completion and which we have been waiting for. We are handing a new puzzle box to our audience. We hope you’ll find the time to solve it up until the last competition film!”, tells Darya Averchenko, Director of the
Communications Department and member of the Docudays UA Selection Council.

The DOCU/WORLD International Competition includes:

• Machtat, dir. by Sonia Ben Slama (Lebanon);

• Grasshopper Republic, dir. by Daniel McCabe (USA, Uganda);

• Rowdy Girl, dir. by Jason Goldman (USA);

• Magic Mountain, dir. by Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt (Georgia, Poland);

• Knit's Island, dir. by Quentin L'helgoualc'h, Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse (France);

• A Golden Life, dir. by Boubacar Sangaré (Burkina Faso, Benin, France);

• Bigger Than Trauma, dir. by Vedrana Pribačić (Croatia);

• Body, dir. by Petra Seliškar (Slovenia, Croatia, North Macedonia);

• The World According to My Dad, dir. by Marta Kovářová (Czech Republic, Slovakia);

• Fragments of Ice, dir. by Maria Stoianova (Ukraine, Norway).

Follow the updates on our website: the detailed festival schedule will be published in late May. You can obtain your festival pass at this link.

Header photo: A still from the film Grasshopper Republic.

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The 21st Docudays UA is held with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, the US Embassy in Ukraine, International Media Support, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine, the Embassy of Estonia in Ukraine, the Polish Institute in Kyiv, Institut français d'Ukraine, Danish Cultural Institute, the Czech Centre in Kyiv, and the Embassy of Hungary in Kyiv. The opinions, conclusions, or recommendations do not necessarily reflect the views of the governments or organisations of these countries. Responsibility for the content of the publication lies exclusively on the authors of the publication.