Can’t attend the festival in Kyiv but want to watch documentaries from this year’s program? Or maybe you’ve marked so many screenings and events that you don’t know how to catch everything?
We invite you to the online cinema DOCUSPACE, where from June 8 to 12, 14 films will be available to watch at home at a time convenient for you. Here is the detailed film schedule and screening conditions.
June 8–10
Still from The Track
The online cinema program will open with this year’s Docudays UA opening film Sanatorium by Irish director Gar O’Rourke, as well as Songs of Slow Burning Earth by Olga Zhurba from the national DOCU/UKRAINE competition, and the headline film of the DOCU/YOUTH program The Track by Canadian director Ryan Sidhoo.
Sanatorium was shot within the walls of the famous “Kuyalnik” resort in Odesa region. According to Gennady Kofman, a producer and board member of NGO Docudays and the Selection Council: “The film contains everything: sorrow, pain, humor, and love. Sanatorium becomes a powerful cinematic study of Ukrainian resilience and a heartfelt ode to Ukraine and its people.”
Songs of Slow Burning Earth is an audiovisual diary documenting Ukraine’s descent into total war, filmed during the first two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The ragged chords of panic and horror in the initial weeks slowly morph into the numb stillness of accepting death and destruction, which becomes a tragic normality for the local population but just an afterthought for the rest of the world. The film premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The Track is an inspiring and deeply human story about holding onto one’s dreams and believing in oneself, no matter the odds. It is also an intimate portrait of a new generation growing up after the war in a reality that has become harsh and unwelcoming far too soon. According to the synopsis, it tells the story of three Bosnian teenagers who, together with their coach, restore an abandoned luge track — once built for the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics — now covered with graffiti and scarred by bullet holes from the war.
June 9–11
A still from An American Pastoral
The next day, seven films will become available for viewing: feature-length Militantropos by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, and Simon Mozgovyi from the DOCU/UKRAINE competition, and An American Pastoral by French director Auberi Edler from the main thematic section and special ARTE program. Also, five short films from DOCU/YOUTH, including King Ridwan by Dutch author Sammy Sheff Idris, A Place to Call Home by Dutch-Iranian director Parisa Aminolahi, Polish film Echo by Ema Buchwald, Indian film What’s the Film About? by Poorva Bhat, and atmospheric animation Mû by German director Malin Neumann.
Following its recent world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Ukrainian audiences will be able to watch Militantropos. The film explores the experience of war through collective and individual lenses: those forced to flee, those who take up arms, those who lose their homes, and those who remain living amid ruins.
An American Pastoral premiered at the IDFA festival just a week and a half after the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. In this context, the film does not just sound urgent but becomes a clear explanation of what is happening to a country long seen as a global guarantor of democracy. The film is at times satirical and deeply sad, addressing the uncomfortable issue of propaganda versus critical thinking as the foundation of democratic society.
Mastering TikTok, grappling with one's own voice, the delicate boundary of parent-child relationships, adjusting to a new environment and the feeling of an unfamiliar home, searching for the vanished magic of water... These themes in the five short films included in the traditional DOCU/YOUTH short film selection each bring their own nuances. – programmer Oleh Melnychuk (films King Ridwan, A Place to Call Home, Echo, What’s the Film About?, Mû).
June 10–12
On the third day of releases, you can watch the touching film My Dear Théo by Ukrainian director Alisa Kovalenko. The film collects letters and video diaries of frontline life, meant to be a legacy of memory and love from the author to her five-year-old son Theo, in case she could not return. The film honors the memory of all fighters who went to war for their children’s future. It was nominated for the Dox:Award category at the CPH:DOX International Documentary Festival in Copenhagen.
June 11–13
A still from Glass — My Unfulfilled Life
On the eve of the festival’s closing, we open online films for those who love autobiographical stories: In Limbo by Alina Maksimenko from the national competition, and Glass — My Unfulfilled Life by Dutch director Rogier Kappers.
In Limbo is a cinematic diary of the Maksimenko family’s struggle for survival. The film reveals the deep impact of conflict on ordinary people’s lives, exploring themes of home, forced displacement, resilience, and enduring family ties in the face of the harsh destruction of war. Its world premiere took place at the 2024 Visions du Réel festival.
Glass — My Unfulfilled Life is a warm, subtle, sometimes funny, sometimes touching film about Rogier Kappers, who at 52 decided to radically change his life by returning to his childhood dream — playing music on glasses. Rogier builds his own “glass organ” and films his musical career over seven years — from failures and disappointments to first successes. The film debuted at IDFA and won an award at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.
June 12–13
And on the last day of releases, don’t miss the film Timestamp by Ukrainian director Kateryna Gornostai! This work allows us to trace how the war affects the daily lives of students and teachers. The film has a mosaic structure: it explores how schools function in both offline and online formats during these terrible times — near the front and in the rear — showing how ordinary life intertwines with constant danger. Its world premiere was at the Berlin International Film Festival.
All screenings start at 10:00 and will be available for viewing for seven days from the moment of ticket purchase. Ticket prices are 80 UAH for feature films and 40 UAH for short films. Please note that online screenings will only be available within Ukraine.
With care for accessibility, all viewing materials will have descriptive subtitles and audio description.
Main photo: a still from film Songs of Slow Burning Earth
The 22nd Docudays UA is held with the financial support of the European Union, the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, International Renaissance Foundation. The opinions, conclusions, or recommendations do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the governments, or organisations of these countries. Responsibility for the content of the publication lies exclusively with the authors and editors of the publication.
