By presenting their projects both at home and abroad, Ukrainian women documentary filmmakers are making a powerful and far-reaching statement on the global stage. How are their individual experiences shaped: what influences their perspectives and storytelling strategies in today’s realities? How do they communicate their ideas in response to shifting contexts and changing perceptions of documentary filmmaking from Ukraine? What challenges do they face, and what methods and tools do they develop to be heard?

Moderator:
Mariia Ponomarova

Mariia Ponomarova was born in Kyiv in 1991. She is a graduate of Yurii Tereshchenko’s directing workshop at the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television. In 2016, she completed the Master’s programme Artistic Research in and through Film at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam. Films she has worked on have been screened at international festivals such as Hot Docs, IDFA, DokLeipzig, Sarajevo FF, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Chicago IFF, and Clermont-Ferrand ISFF, among many others. Mariia is a senior consultant for the European Documentary Network (DAE) and a member of AHCU, the Dutch Directors Guild, as well as the European and Ukrainian Film Academies.

Marta Smerechynska is a Ukrainian documentary film director, a graduate of the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi National University in Kyiv, La Fémis in Paris, and the DocNomads Master’s programme in Portugal, Hungary, and Belgium. Her films have been screened at numerous international festivals, including Visions du Réel, Sarajevo Film Festival, PÖFF Shorts, FIPADOC, and Docudays UA.

In her work, Marta often turns to personal and vulnerable themes — memory, trauma, intimacy, and alienation. Her feature-length debut explores an attempt to rebuild a relationship with her sister after the latter decides to enter a monastery, immersing herself in the everyday life of a women’s monastery in western Ukraine. Her recent work focuses on the wartime experiences of her friends and on displacement caused by the war.

Nataliia Libet is a Ukrainian film producer with international awards and experience in international co-production and financing, as well as a co-founder of the Kyiv-based production company 2BRAVE PRODUCTIONS. She has produced several critically acclaimed feature films, including Traces by Alisa Kovalenko (Audience Award, Panorama section, Berlinale 2026), Timestamp (Berlinale Competition 2025), and Stop-Zemlia by Kateryna Hornostai (Crystal Bear, Generation 14+ section, Berlinale 2021), Forever-Forever by Anna Buriakova (Orizzonti Extra, Venice Film Festival 2023), and Parthenon by Mantas Kvedaravičius (International Critics’ Week, Venice Film Festival 2019).

Nataliia earned an MBA in the United States as an Edmund S. Muskie Fellowship recipient (2000). She is a member of the European Producers Club, the European Film Academy, and the Ukrainian Film Academy, where she also serves on the Board. She is an alumna of EURODOC 2021, Emerging Producers 2022, and the Nipkow Programme 2023.

In addition to her producing work, Nataliia is the head of the First Cut+ programme at Tatino Films — an annual workshop dedicated to the marketing and international positioning of feature films. In 2024, she was selected for the Film Independent Global Media Makers programme.

Oksana Karpovych is an author whose film work explores the intersection of war, state power, and private life during periods of acute political upheaval. She studied cultural studies at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and later continued her film education in Montreal. Karpovych creates films marked by striking ethical and aesthetic clarity. Her latest film Intercepted, composed of recordings of phone calls of Russian soldiers and footage from Ukraine during the full-scale war, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Ecumenical Jury Prize. Later, it gained international recognition, including Best Director at BAFICI and a nomination for the 2024 Gotham Awards. She received the “Woman of the Year in Film” award from the Ukrainian Institute in 2025.

Dasha Zakharova was born in Kyiv and graduated from the Institute of International Relations at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. She began her professional career as a project manager in the cultural sector, working on the first contemporary sculpture festival in partnership with Yorkshire Sculpture Park. She later moved into video production and has twelve years of experience producing commercials, music videos, and films.

She has collaborated with leading Ukrainian production companies (Radioaktive, Family, Pronto, Limelite) and has also produced international shoots in Europe, Asia, and Africa, working with foreign production companies. Her debut feature film Hematoma (2019) was presented at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Since 2022, she has collaborated with Tabor, where she co-produced the documentary Kyiv Soloists, which premiered in Gothenburg, produced the documentary Illusion of a Quiet Night (Visions du Réel 2026), and developed the fiction film The Earth Is Flat — I Flew Around It and Saw It, which was presented at the Berlinale Co-Production Market and La Résidence at the Cannes Film Festival.